^  GIFT  or 

TH01VL«  RUTHERFORD  BACON 
MEMOWAL  LIBRA  PY 


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FRANCE  UNDER  THE  REGENCY 


WITH  A   REVIEW   OF  THE 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV 


BY 


JAMES  BRECK  PERKINS 

AUTHOR   OF   "FRANCE   UNDER    RICHELIEU   AND   MAZARIN " 


BOSTON  AND   NEW  YORK 
ftOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

1896 


1]CI 


I- 


p^- 


/3a  Of  >T 

Copyright,  1892, 
BtJAHES  BBECE  PEBKINS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


FOCBTB    EDiriOM. 


The  JUvertide  Pre»t,  Cambridge,  Matt.,  XT.  S.  A. 
ElMtiotypcd  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houcbton  &  Compaiqr. 


PEEFACE. 


This  book  covers  the  regency  of  the  Duke  o£  Or- 
leans, with  a  review  of  the  more  important  phases  of 
the  long  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  I  expect  hereafter 
to  discuss  some  other  periods  of  French  history  dur- 
ing the  eighteenth  century.  The  present  volume,  how- 
ever, is  entirely  distinct ;  the  history  of  the  century 
naturally  divides  itself  into  epochs,  any  one  of  which 
can  be  studied  by  those  who  so  desire,  without  any 
necessary  reference  to  the  others. 

Historical  students  now  feel  bound  to  consult  the 
most  trustworthy  authorities.  To  discover  the  truth 
of  history,  as  well  as  the  facts  in  a  court  of  law,  hear- 
say and  secondary  evidence  can  only  be  received  when 
no  better  can  be  found.  For  almost  everything  that 
concerns  the  government  itself,  in  its  administrative 
and  diplomatic  relations,  official  documents  and  diplo- 
matic correspondence  are  the  most  satisfactory  sources 
of  information.  Many  of  these,  for  this  period  of 
French  history,  have  been  published.  Most  of  the 
valuable  manuscript  authorities  are  found  at  the  Na- 
tional Library  at  Paris,  and  especially  in  the  Archives 


iv  PREFACE. 

des  Affaires  Etrangdres.  The  courtesy  of  the  French 
government  allows  students  of  French  history  to  have 
access  to  whatever  they  care  to  examine. 

The  literature  of  the  time  and  contemporary  me- 
moirs furnish  the  best  idea  of  the  social  and  intel- 
lectual condition  of  the  period.  The  newspapers  of 
this  era  are  of  little  importance ;  as  we  understand 
the  institution  of  the  press,  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
existed.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  read  all  the 
documents  and  printed  matter  which  may  contain  in- 
formation. There  is,  however,  little  difficulty  in  de- 
ciding what  is  of  the  most  importance,  and  on  what 
authorities  one  can  safely  rely.  The  views  which 
may  be  taken  of  the  events  and  characters  of  the  re- 
gency, and  of  the  administration  of  Louis  XIV.,  will 
differ ;  the  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  these  periods  will 
be  differently  interpreted  by  different  writers.  So 
far  as  the  occurrences  themselves  are  concerned,  I  do 
not  think  that  any  important  sources  of  information 
will  be  discovered  which  will  throw  new  light  upon 
them. 

It  is  manifestly  impracticable  to  give  all  the  author- 
ities which  are  examined.  A  statement  as  to  the  pur- 
poses of  a  king  or  a  minister  may  be  based  upon  the 
impression  produced  by  reading  fifty  letters  ;  a  state- 
ment as  to  the  economical  condition  of  a  district  may 
be  founded  upon  as  many  reports  of  superintendents 
and  other  officials.  To  refer  to  them  all,  still  more 
to  cite  liberally  from  them,  would  make  the  notes  far 
more  voluminous  than  the  text.     I  have  endeavored 


PRE  FA  CE.  V 

to  refer  always  to  the  most  important  authorities  on 
which  I  rely.  This  is  sufficient  to  serve  as  a  guide  to 
any  one  who  cares  to  examine  critically  any  passage 
in  the  text ;  for  the  ordinary  reader,  long  lists  of  ref- 
erences and  numerous  citations  serve  no  purpose. 
Paris,  March,  1892. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Fbance  IK  THE  Eighteenth  Century. 


Effect  of  the  Revolution 
Reign  of  Louis  XIV.         .... 
Commercial  Development  of  France     . 
Influence  of  Literature      .... 
Decline  of  Monarchical  Feeling  . 
Religious  Condition  of  France  . 
Contest  with  Parliament 
Loss  of  Foreign  Possessions  of  France     . 
Influence  of  French  Literature  in  Europe 
Influence  of  England        .... 
Influence  of  the  American  Revolution 
Condition  of  the  Aristocracy    . 
Results  of  the  Revolution     . 


PAGE 

1 

2 

3 

6 

7 

10 

13 

14 

16 

17 

18 

20 

21 


CHAPTER  11. 

The  Early  Years  of  the  Administration  of  Louis  XIV. 

1661-1670. 

Condition  of  France  in  1661 23 

Ministers  of  Louis  XIV.            .         .         .         .         .         .  25 

Character  of   Louis  XIV .26 

He  assumes  Control  of  the  Government   ....  29 

Corruption  of  Fouquet          .......  31 

Misery  of  the  People 33 

Fouquet's  Overthrow  decided  upon 35 

Festivities  at  Vaux           .        .        .         .      •  .        .        .  36 


viii  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

Arrest  of  Fouquet 37 

Trial  and  Sentence  of  Fouquet 38 

Dispute  with  Spanish  Ambassador  at  London       .        .         .42 

Quarrels  with  the  Pope     .......  44 

Purchase  of  Dunkirk 47 

Suppression  of  Internal  Disorders     .....  48 

Splendor  of  the  Court 60 


CHAPTER  III. 
Wars  with  Spain  and  Holland. 
1667-1679. 


Claims  upon  the  Possessions  of  Spain  . 
Renunciation  of  Maria  Theresa 
Birth  of  Charles  II.  ... 

Claims  made  by  Louis  on  Brabant    . 

Death  of  Philip  IV 

War  between  England  and  Holland . 

Invasion  of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries 

Alarm  excited  in  Holland 

The  Triple  Alliance      .... 

Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 

Treaty  between  France  and  Austria 

Acquisitions  by  France 

Condition  of  Lorraine  and  Alsace 

Louis's  Indignation  against  Holland 

Alliance  with  England 

Alliance  with  German  Powers  . 

Improvements  of  Louvois     . 

Invasion  of  Holland 

Offers  made  by  the  Dutch    . 

The  Dikes  are  cut     .... 

Cruelties  practiced  in  Holland 

Alliance  in  Behalf  of  Holland 

Death  of  Turenne         .... 

Louis's  Military  Tastes     . 

Terms  offered  to  Holland     . 

Peace  made  with  Holland 

Peace  of  Nimeguen      .... 


52 
63 
^ 
67 
68 
69 
61 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
71 
72 
73 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
84 
85 
87 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Colbert.  I 

1661-1683. 

Birth  and  Appearance  of  Colbert  .         .  , 

Employed  by  Mazarin  '    . 

Appointed  Superintendent  by  Louis 

Financial  Condition  of  France  .         .         .         . 

Measures  to  reduce  the  Debt 

Measures  against  the  Farmers  General     . 

Improvement  in  the  Condition  of  France 

Protective  Tariffs  in  France      .         .         .         . 

Manufacturing  Industries     .... 

Principles  advocated  by  Colbert 

His  Encouragement  of  Manufacturers 

Protective  Tariffs  of  Colbert     .         .         .         . 

Their  Effect  on  the  Country 

Condition  of  the  Country  in  1698 

Opinion  of  the  Merchants  in  1700 

Increase  in  Wealth  in  the  Eighteenth  Century 

The  Edicts  regulating  Manufacturers 

Edicts  forbidding  Exportation  of  Grain    . 

Result  of  Colbert's  Policy     .... 

His  Colonial  Policy 

His  Death  and  Wealth 


90 

91 

93 

95 

96 

98 

100 

101 

103 

105 

106 

109 

112 

114 

116 

117 

118 

120 

123 

124 

126 


CHAPTER  V. 
Louis  the  Great. 


Louis's  Position  in  Europe 129 

His  Influence  upon  the  Nobility 

Life  at  Versailles 

Character  of  the  Nobility  under  Louis  XIV. 
Embassies  from  Foreign  Countries 
Completion  of  the  Louvre 
Improvements  in  Paris  .... 

Construction  of  Palace  of  Versailles 

Literature  under  Louis  XIV. » 

Pensions  paid  Authors 


130 
131 
134 
135 
137 
138 
139 
142 
144 
Louis's  Relations  with  Women 147 


X  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

Madame  de  Maintenon 148 

Her  Political  Influence 156 

Veneration  felt  for  Louis  XIV 158 

His  Character 160 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Revocation  of  the  EofcT  of  Nantes. 

1685. 

Religious  Policy  of  Louis  XIV.  . 

Growth  of  the  Huguenot  Party  in  France 

Edict  of  Nantes   .         .         •         .         . 

Treatment  of  Huguenots  by  Richelieu 

Their  Treatment  by  Mazarin 

Restrictive  Measures  of  Louis  XIV. 

Conduct  of  the  Gallican  Church   . 

Endeavors  to  convert  Huguenots 

Persecution  of  Huguenots    . 

Dragonnades     .... 

The  Huguenots  profess  Catholicism 

Revocation  of  Edict  of  Nantes 

Praise  received  by  Louis 

Treatraen±  of  the  New  Converts 

Flight  of  Protestants  from  France 

Institution  of  the  Galleys 

Relaxation  in  Severities 

Petty  Persecution 

Results  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 

Louis's  Quarrels  with  Innocent  XL 

Action  of  the  Gallican  Church 

Quarrels  over  the  Privileges  of  Ambassadors 


164 
165 
166 
167 
168 
169 
171 
172 
175 
177 
182 
184 
185 
187 
189 
190 
195 
196 
199 
204 
205 
207 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Coalitions  against  France. 

1680-1697. 

Results  of  Early  Reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
Proceedings  of  the  Courts  of  Reunion 
Annexation  of  Strasburg       .... 
Bombardment  of  Genoa 


209 
211 
212 
215 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

Treatment  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy 216 

Persecutions  of  the  Yaudois      ......       217 

Feeling  against  Louis  in  Europe 218 

League  of  Augsburg  .         .         .         .         ,         ,         .219 

Quarrel  over  Electorate  of  Cologne 220 

Beginning  of  the  "War 222 

Expedition  of  William  of  Orange 225 

Devastation  of  the  Palatinate    .         .         .         .         ,         .       227 

Capture  of   Namur 228 

Louis  leaves  the  Army 230 

Death  of  Louvois 232 

Barbarities  practiced  in  the  War 233 

Condition  of   France 234 

Terms  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy 235 

Treaty  of  Ryswick 236 

CHAPTER  VIIL 

The  Spanish  Succession. 

1698-1713. 

Question  of  the  Spanish  Succession 239 

Claimants  on  the  Succession 241 

Negotiations  for  a  Partition 243 

First  Partition  Treaty 244 

Second  Partition  Treaty 246 

Feelings  of  the  Spanish     ..,.,..       249 

Negotiations  at  Madrid 251 

Good  Faith  of  Louis  XIV 253 

Condition  of  Charles  II.  of  Spain         .....  259 
Intrigues  of  Porto  Carrero        .         .         .         .         .         .       261 

Will  of  Charles  II 262 

It  is  accepted  by  Louis  XIV 264 

Duke  of  Anjou  declared  King  of  Spain        ....  267 
Apprehension  excited  in  Europe        .....       268 

Conduct  of  Louis  XIV .270 

War  declared 271 

Recognition  of  the  Pretender  by  Louis  .         .         .         .  271 

War  of  the  Spanish  Succession 272 

Defeats  of  the  French  » 273 

Discontent  in  France 275 


xii  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

Louis  endeavors  to  make  Peace    ......  277 

Conduct  of  the  Allies 279 

Conduct  of  Philip  V.  of   Spain 280 

Madame  des  Ursins 281 

Financial  Condition  of  France 283 

Victories  in  Spain      .         .         .         .         .         .         •         •       285 

Peace  of  Utrecht 285 

Conduct  of  the  English  Ministers 287 

Overthrow  of  Madame  des  Ursins        .         .         .         .         .  289 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Close  of  the  Reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

1712-1715. 

Death  of  the  Dauphin 293 

Death  and  Character  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy        .         .       294 

Grief  of  Louis  XIV 296 

Destruction  of  Port  Royal 297 

Death  of  Louis  XIV.  . 298 

Growth  of   Royal  Power  in  France  .         .         .         .         .       300 

Condition  of  the  Aristocracy 302 

Privileged  Classes 303 

Local  Institutions  of  France 304 

Provincial  States       ........       306 

Municipal  Bodies 308 

They  lose  the  Right  to  elect  OfBcers         ....       310 

The  French  Parliaments 312 

Condition  of  the  Peasantry 313 

Effect  of  Louis's  Government 314 

Changes  in  Industry 315 

Legal  Reforms 317 

Monarchical  Government  in  France  ....       319 

Decline  in  Religious  Belief  .......  320 

Social  Grievances 322 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Regency. 

1715. 

f       Lack  of  Respect  for  Louis  XIV.     ' 324 

The  OfBce  of  Regent 326 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


Philip  V.  intrigues  to  be  Regent  . 
The  Duke  of  Orleans 

Will  of  Louis  XIV 

Session  of  the  Parliament 
Will  of  Louis  Xiy.  set  aside 
Appointment  of  Councils 
Inefficiency  of  the  Aristocracy 
Quarrels  over  Precedence 
Right  of  Bastards  to  inherit  the  Throne 
Degradation  of  Duke  of  Maine 
Release  of  Prisoners    .... 
Religious  Policy  of  Regent 
His  Political  Views 
Financial  Condition  of  France 
Efforts  at  Reformation 
Depreciation  of  the  Currency    . 


CHAPTER   XI. 
Dubois  and  the  English  Alliance. 


Xlll 


1715-1717. 


Character  of  Cardinal  Dubois 
Preceptor  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
Letter  of  Orleans's  Mother 
Religious  Character  of  Dubois 
Treatment  of  the  Pretender 
Louis  XIV.  refuses  to  assist  him 
English  friendly  to  Duke  of  Orleans 
Offers  of  an  Alliance 
Conduct  of  Orleans 
Defeat  of  the  Jacobites 
Negotiations  for  an  Alliance 
Dubois's  Visit  at  the  Hague 
He  goes  to  Hanover 
Charges  that  he  was  bribed 
Character  of  Stanhope 
Formation  of  Triple  Alliance 
Results  of  this  Measure 
Justification  of  the  Treaty 


XIV  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

The  Quadruple  Alliance  and  War  with  Spain. 

1718-1720. 

Character  of  Philip  V 397 

He  is  governed  by  his  Wives 398 

Character  of  his  Second  Wife       .         ,         .         .         .         .  400 

Life  of  Philip  V 401 

His  Superstition ,         .         ,  402 

Claims  as  to  his  Renunciation 404 

His  Animosity  to  Orleans .  406 

Alberoni 407 

Schemes  of  Alberoni 409 

Hostility  to  France 410 

The  Spanish  invade  Sardinia         ......  412 

Dubois  Ambassador  at  London  .....       413 

The  Quadruple  Alliance 415 

The  Spanish  invade  Sicily 417 

War  against  Spain 418 

Conspiracy  of  Cellamare 419 

Arrest  of  the  Conspirators 422 

The  French  invade  Spain 424 

Overthrow  of  Alberoni 425 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Law  and  his  System. 

Early  Life  of  John  Law 428 

His  Theories  on  Finance  .......      430 

His  Proposals  to  the  Scotch 433 

Career  as  a  Gambler 435 

Visits  Paris 436 

His  Offers  to  the  Regent 438 

Views  in  Reference  to  a  Bank 440 

The  Regent  favorable  to  Law 443 

Law's  Bank  organized 444 

Its  Beneficial  Effect 445 

Its  Change  to  a  State  Bank 446 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Mississippi  Company. 

1717-1720. 

Law's  Plans  for  Foreign  Commerce 

Organization  of  the  Company  of  the  West 

Territory  ceded  to  it     . 

Capital  of  the  Company    . 

Other  Franchises  obtained  by  it  . 

The  Company  of  the  Indies 

Obtains  Farm  of  the  Taxes 

Funding  of  the  National  Debt 

Increased  Issues  of  Currency 

Attempts  to  colonize  Louisiana 

Reports  as  to  its  Wealth 

Beginning  of   Speculation  in  Shares 

Issues  of  Stock     .         . 

Advance  in  Prices     .... 

Subscriptions  for  Shares 

Speculation  in  the  Rue  Quincampoix 

Fluctuations  in  Prices 

Fortunes  realized      .... 

Apparent  Prosperity     .... 

Reforms  effected  by  Law 

He  is  made  Controller  General    . 

Dividends  promised  on  the  Stock 


448 
449 
450 
451 
452 
454 
455 
456 
458 
459 
462 
465 
468 
470 
471 
473 
476 
477 
479 
480 
482 
483 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Failure  of  the  System. 

1720-1721. 

Speculators  begin  to  realize 486 

High  Price  of  Provisions  ......       487 

Edicts  against  Luxury  .......  488 

Measures  against  Use  of  Gold  and  Silver  .         .         .      489 

Their  Use  is  prohibited 491 

Purchase  of  Shares  by  the  Company         ....       492 

Violence  in  Efforts  at  Colonization 494 

Murder  committed  by  Count  Horn 495 


xvi  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


Speculation  forbidden  .... 

Reduction  in  Value  of  Shares  . 

Law's  Measures  repealed 

Disturbances  in  Payment  of  Bank  Notes 

Fall  in  Price  of  Shares 

The  System  abandoned     .... 

Law  leaves  France        .... 

His  Character  and  Conduct 

Liquidation  of  the  Bank  and  the  Company 

Future  History  of  the  Company  of  the  Indies 


498 
500 
503 
504 
507 
508 
510 
512 
514 
516 


Results  of  Law's  System 517 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Ministry  of  Dubois. 

1717-1721. 

Influence  of  Dubois 520 

Contests  with  the  Parliament 522 

Visit  of  Peter  the  Great 527 

Embassy  from  the  Sultan  of  Turkey        ....  530 

Treatment  of  the  Jansenists         ...*..  534 

Quarrels  over  the  Bull  Unigenitus    .....  536 

Intrigues  for  Dubois's  Promotion  as  a  Cardinal   .         .         .  538 

Death  of  Clement  XI 544 

Dubois  made  a  Cardinal 546 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Close  of  the  Regency. 

1721-1723. 

Dubois  made  Prime  Minister 547 

Alliance  with  Spain           .......  548 

Majority  of  Louis  XV 549 

His  Coronation          ........  550 

Miracles  at  Paris 552 

Voltaire 552 

Influence  of  the  Regency  on  Literature         ....  554 

Scientific  Progress  in  France    ......  556 

The  Worship  of  the  Sacred  Heart 557 

Growth  of  Paris 659 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  xvil 

Influence  of  Paris 561 

Career  of  Cartouche 562 

Death  of  Dubois 667 

Death  of  Orleans 569 

Influence  of  the  Regency      .        .        ,        ,        .        ,        .  570 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Morals  of  the  Regency. 

Moral  Condition  under  the  Regency 572 

Moral  Condition  under  Louis  XIV.  ....       574 

Life  led  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans 576 

Suppers  of  the  Palais  Royal 577 

Opera  Balls .578 

Fetes  at  St.  Cloud 579 

Mistresses  of  the  Regent 580 

Dissipation  at  Versailles  ......        582 

The  Duke  of  Richelieu 583 

The  Duchess  of  Berry 584 

Children  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans 588 

Laxity  of  Moral  Judgment 590 

Relaxation  of  Religious  Belief 591 

Character  of  Louis  XV. .      593 

Last  Words  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans 695 

Index 597 


FRANCE  UNDER  THE  REGENCY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FRANCE   IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 

The  history  of  France  in  the  eighteenth  century 
justly  claims  the  attention  of  the  student  of  politics,  of 
society,  and  of  literature.  The  last  hundred  years  have 
witnessed  political  and  social  modifications  more  im- 
portant than  those  of  any  era  since  the  institution  of 
Christianity  and  of  the  Roman  Empire.  In  the  intel- 
lectual movement  of  the  years  preceding,  we  must  seek 
the  origin,  the  vivifying  cause,  of  the  changes  which 
have  so  rapidly  transformed  modern  civilization,  and 
during  those  years  it  is  certain  that  France  exercised 
the  greatest  influence  of  any  European  state. 

Few  now  deny  that  the  French  Revolution  affected 
profoundly  and  permanently  forms  of  government 
and  conditions  of  society.  Even  those  who  are  most 
eloquent  in  denunciation  of  its  crimes  admit  that 
its  results  have  changed  the  face  of  Europe.  The 
causes  of  a  movement  of  such  importance  can  be  traced 
far  back,  but  in  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the 
conditions  which  determined  its  nature  and  controlled 
its  consequences  are  to  be  sought  between  the  death 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  the  meeting  of  the  States  General. 
It  was  impossible  that  a  monarchy  like  that  of  the 
Bourbons,  or   institutions  such   as    those   of  the  old 


2  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

regime,  should  continue  indefinitely  in  France,  but  it 
was  uncertain  how  long  that  form  of  government  could 
exist,  and  what  would  be  the  beliefs  and  the  influence 
of  the  French  people  when  old  traditions  had  passed 
away.  The  three  quarters  of  a  century  which  precede 
1789,  though  less  dramatic  and  less  lurid  than  the  era 
of  the  Revolution,  can  be  studied  with  equal  profit  by 
those  who  seek  to  know  the  record  of  the  past,  in  order 
to  derive  from  it  lessons  for  the  present,  and  admoni- 
tions for  the  future. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  extended  over  seventy 
years,  and  in  so  long  a  period  it  largely  modified  the 
institutions  and  the  power  of  France.  Her  European 
position  was  far  more  commanding  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  than  at  its  beginning.  Alike  in 
political  power,  in  the  influence  exercised  by  her  so- 
ciety, in  the  attention  attracted  by  her  literature, 
France  was  confessedly  the  leading  state  of  Europe. 
Additions  of  new  territory  had  increased  her  strength 
and  her  prestige ;  they  had  gratified  the  pride  of  a  peo- 
ple which  has  always  been  eager  to  extend  the  boun- 
daries and  the  influence  of  the  fatherland.  The  asr- 
grandizement  of  France  during  the  seventeenth  century 
is  not  to  be  condemned  as  the  result  of  a  series  of  pirati- 
cal excursions.  The  growth  of  nations  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  smaller  communities,  adapted  by  situation  and 
by  race  to  assimilate  with  the  larger  body,  has  been  the 
law  of  European  progress.  Thus  France  has  been  built 
up.  Thus  Italy  has  been  consolidated  in  our  own  days. 
The  greatest  subdivision  of  Europe  coincided  with  the 
worst  condition  of  the  poor,  and  the  lowest  phases  of 
general  intelligence.  The  unification  of  great  nations, 
in  the  past  as  in  the  present,  has  attended  the  de- 
velopment of  civilization. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     3 

The  early  successes  of  Louis  XIV.  were  followed  by- 
reverses,  and  his  reign  ended  in  disaster.  It  was  shown 
that  the  omnipotence  of  the  master  was  not  accompa- 
nied by  omniscience ;  a  severe  rule  became  irksome 
when  its  results  were  defeat  abroad  and  distress  at 
home.  But  the  feeling  of  relief  that  welcomed  the 
death  of  the  old  king  was  far  from  being  a  desire  for 
any  radical  change  in  the  system  of  government.  The 
child  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  was  an  object  of 
affection  and  veneration  to  the  entire  nation.  When 
he  was  dangerously  ill,  every  one  was  in  consterna- 
tion ;  his  recovery  was  greeted  by  demonstrations  of 
delight  which  were  universal  and  unfeigned.  Bour- 
geoisie united  with  nobility  in  a  common  glee  ;  the 
fisher  women  of  the  marl'  et  were  as  exuberant  in  their 
joy  as  the  courtiers  of  the  Louvre.^ 

The  regency  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  lasted  only  eight 
years,  but  it  was  not  without  a  considerable  effect 
upon  the  destinies  of  the  country.  It  was  a  break  in 
the  political  and  the  religious  traditions  of  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.  The  new  activity  imparted  to  busi- 
ness during  this  period  was  an  event  of  equal  impor- 
tance. Nothing  is  more  erroneous  than  to  suppose 
that  constantly  increasing  misery  at  last  excited  revolt 
against  the  government  and  the  institutions  of  the  old 
regime.  The  Revolution  in  France  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  possible,  not  because  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people  had  grown  worse,  but  because  it  had 
become  better.  The  material  development  of  that 
country,  during  the  fifty  years  that  preceded  the  eon- 

^  Accounts  of  the  demonstrations  at  the  recovery  of  the  young 
king  in  1721  are  given  in  the  journals  of  Barbier  and  Buvat. 
The  fishwives  presented  an  enormous  sturgeon.  —  Journal  de 
Maraisy  ii.  183. 


4  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

vocation  of  the  States  General,  had  no  parallel  in  its 
past  history.  Neither  the  weight  of  taxation,  nor  the 
extravagance  of  the  court,  nor  the  bankruptcy  of  the 
government,  checked  an  increase  in  wealth  that  made 
France  in  1789  seem  like  a  different  land  from  France 
in  1715.  The  lot  of  large  classes  was  still  miserable, 
the  burden  of  taxation  upon  a  large  part  of  the  popu- 
lation was  still  grievous,  there  were  sections  where 
Arthur  Young  could  truly  say  that  he  found  only  pov- 
erty and  privileges,  but  the  country  as  a  whole  was 
more  prosperous  than  Germany  or  Spain  ;  it  was  far 
more  prosperous  than  it  had  been  under  Louis  XIV. 
An  enthusiastic  observer  declared  that  one  seemed  to 
breathe  in  that  fair  land  the  perfume  of  public  feli- 
city.i 

Such  an  improvement  in  material  conditions  neces- 
sitated both  social  and  political  changes.  In  the  most 
disastrous  periods  of  French  history,  an  alteration  in 
the  form  of  government,  effected  by  the  community  at 
large,  would  have  been  impossible.  Hunger  and  de- 
spair might  excite  a  Jacquerie,  bands  of  starving  sav- 
ages might  burn  the  castle  of  a  gentleman  and  murder 
his  family,  but  such  excesses  had  no  permanent  result. 
The  villeins  of  a  feudal  lord,  ignorant,  miserable,  men- 
tally inert,  were  as  incapable  of  attempting  important 
political  changes  as  were  the  beasts  they  tended.  The 
bourgeoisie,  though  more  prosperous  and  more  intelli- 
gent, bore  little  resemblance  to  the  same  class  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  A  revolution  like  that  of  1789 
was  impossible  until  the  condition  of  the  people,  both 
materially  and  mentally,  was  far  removed  from  what 
it  had  been  in  the  Hundred  Years'  War,  or  even  dur- 
ing the  era  of  the  Fronde. 

^  Memoires  du  Comte  Beugnot, 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     5 

Dense  Ignorance  was  still  widespread  in  France 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  the 
intellectual  condition  of  the  middle  classes  had  been 
largely,  and  that  of  the  lower  classes  somewhat  modi- 
fied. The  proportion  of  the  peasantry  capable  of 
mental  action  more  varied  than  providing  for  physi- 
cal needs  was  larger  under  Louis  XVI.  than  under 
Louis  XIV.  In  the  cities,  and  among  the  middle 
and  upper  classes,  increased  activity  and  freedom  of 
thought  were  among  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
age.  The  wealthy  merchant  no  longer  viewed  society 
as  did  the  bourgeois  who  kept  a  little  shop  on  the  Pont 
Neuf  under  the  Valois  kings.  "  The  merchants  have 
discarded  their  former  dress,"  said  Voltaire,  "  polite- 
ness has  gained  the  shop."  Even  this  change  in 
manners  was  symbolical.  But  while  social  conditions 
had  altered,  political  institutions  remained  unchanged. 
New  wine  had  been  poured  in,  but  the  old  bottles  were 
still  used.  Tailles  and  corvees  were  no  more  severe 
in  the  eighteenth  than  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but 
they  were  more  odious.  A  feudal  privilege,  which 
had  then  been  accepted  as  a  part  of  the  law  of  nature, 
was  now  regarded  as  contrary  to  nature.  The  pre- 
eminence of  birth,  which  had  been  freely  accorded  by 
the  merchant  and  the  member  of  Parliament  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  was  galling  to  their  descendants. 
The  member  of  the  third  estate,  who  felt  that  in 
wealth  and  intelligence  he  was  the  equal  of  a  social 
superior,  chafed  at  distinctions  which  were  the  more 
strenuously  insisted  upon  as  they  began  to  be  ques- 
tioned. Thus  a  demand  for  social  equality,  for  the 
abolition  of  privileges  and  immunities  by  which  any 
class  profited  at  the  expense  of  others,  was  fostered 
by  economical   changes.     It   received   an   additional 


6 


FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 


impetus  from  the  writings  of  theorists,  philosophers, 
and  political  reformers. 

The  influence  of  literature  in  France  during  the 
eighteenth  century  was  important,  yet  it  is  possible 
to  overestimate  it.  The  seed  of  political  and  social 
change  was  sown  by  the  writers  of  the  period,  but  the 
soil  was  already  prepared  to  receive  it.  The  books 
of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau  and  the  Encyclopaedists 
would  have  been  impossible  a  century  earlier,  and  if 
they  had  then  appeared  they  would  have  failed  of 
effect.  We  can  more  truly  say  that  a  subversive 
literature  was  the  result  of  the  unsettled  condition 
of  men's  minds,  than  that  public  opinion  was  first 
unsettled  by  a  subversive  literature. 

It  was  only  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century  that 
a  great  influence  was  exercised  by  the  writers  who 
attacked  established  institutions.  In  St.  Simon's  me- 
moirs, written  about  1745,  he  refers  to  the  imprison- 
ment of  Voltaire  in  the  Bastille  when  he  was  a  young 
man,  and  adds,  by  way  of  excuse  for  speaking  of  so 
paltry  an  event,  that  Voltaire  had  since  become  some- 
what of  a  personage  in  society  of  a  certain  kind.  This 
remark  expressed  the  contemptuous  feeling  of  a  duke 
and  a  peer  for  any  one  who  was  not  distinguished  by 
birth,  but  it  would  not  have  been  made  later.  When 
St.  Simon  wrote,  Voltaire  was  known  as  a  poet  and 
a  wit ;  it  was  not  until  years  afterward  that  he  became 
a  power  in  Europe  whom  sovereigns  feared  and  the 
populace  worshiped.  Had  the  duke  written  in  1775, 
he  would  probably  have  denounced  Voltaire  as  an 
atheist,  a  criminal,  and  an  object  of  loathing,  but  he 
would  not  have  dismissed  him  with  mild  contempt  as 
one  who  was  denied  access  to  the  inner  mysteries  of 
aristocratic  society. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY,     7 

The  course  of  events,  the  conduct  of  their  rulers, 
prepared  the  minds  of  the  French  people  for  political 
change,  and  accounted  for  the  influence  which  litera- 
ture acquired.  The  doctrines  of  philosophers  found 
easy  access  to  the  hearts  of  a  people  with  whom  rev- 
erence for  royalty  and  a  tranquil  acceptance  of  an 
established  government  had  been  succeeded  by  con- 
tempt for  the  king  and  hatred  for  the  regime  under 
which  they  lived. 

We  can  trace  this  change  of  sentiment  during  the 
reign  of  Louis  XV.  The  popular  affection  which 
encircled  his  cradle  accompanied  him  when  he  had 
grown  to  be  a  man.  During  the  long  administration 
of  Fleury,  the  young  king  was  submissive  to  the 
wishes  of  his  minister,  but  after  the  cardinal's  death 
the  people  looked  forward  with  expectation  to  the 
exercise  of  the  personal  authority  of  their  sovereign. 
His  early  breaches  of  morality  excited  little  criti- 
cism among  his  subjects.  Henry  IV.,  the  most  popu- 
lar, and  Louis  XIV.,  the  most  powerful,  of  French 
monarchs,  had  indulged  in  the  gallantry  which  was 
deemed  a  prerogative  of  sovereignty,  and  it  had  not 
interfered  with  the  performance  of  their  duties  as 
rulers.  "  The  king's  relations  with  women  will  develop 
his  genius  and  his  sensibility,"  wrote  one  chronicler, 
and  he  declared  the  criticisms  upon  Mme.  de  Pompa- 
dour to  be  outrageous.  "  It  is  enough  that  the  king 
is  attached  to  a  woman,"  he  said,  "  to  make  her  an 
object  of  respect  to  all  his  subjects."  ^ 

Few  events  are  more  noticeable  in  the  history  of 
the  age  than  the  extraordinary  expressions  of  grief 
and  affection  that  were  excited  by  the  illness  of  Louis 
XV.  in  1744.     The  agitation  at  Paris  was  extreme, 

1  Journal  de  Barhier,  ii.  154  ;  iv.  367. 


8  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

Crowds  besieged  the  houses  of  the  mmisters  to  hear 
the  latest  bulletins  from  Metz,  where  the  king  was 
lying  ill.  The  churches  were  filled  with  people  pray- 
ing for  his  recovery.  When  it  was  reported  that  he 
had  received  the  last  sacraments,  men  wept  in  the 
streets.  A  corresponding  outburst  of  joy  greeted  his 
recovery.  Statues  were  erected  in  his  honor.  Te 
Deums  were  sung.  A  preacher  hailed  him  as  Louis 
the  well  beloved,  and  all  the  nation  adopted  the  title. 
"  What  have  I  done  to  be  so  loved  ?  "  the  king  himself 
asked.  Certainly  he  had  done  nothing,  but  the  expla- 
nation was  correctly  given.  "  Louis  XV.  is  dear  to 
his  people,  without  having  done  anything  for  them, 
because  the  French  are,  of  all  nations,  most  inclined 
to  love  their  king."  ^ 

This  affection,  the  result  of  centuries  of  fidelity  and 
zeal  for  monarchical  institutions,  and  for  the  sover- 
eigns by  whom  they  were  personified,  was  wholly  de- 
stroyed by  Louis's  subsequent  career.  The  vices  to 
which  he  became  addicted  were  those  which  arouse 
feelings  not  only  of  reprehension,  but  of  loathing. 
They  excited  both  aversion  and  contempt.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  country  was  as  despicable  as  the 
character  of  the  sovereign.  Under  Louis  XIV.  there 
had  been  suffering  and  there  had  been  disaster,  but 
France  had  always  preserved  a  commanding  position 
in  Europe.  Even  when  vanquished,  she  had  not  been 
humiliated.  But  now  defeat  and  dishonor  were  the 
fate  of  a  people  alike  powerful  and  proud.  Foreign 
empires  were  lost ;  the  influence  of  France  in  Europe 
was  impaired,  if  it  was  not  destroyed.  Impotent  gen- 
erals commanded  the  army,  inefficient  ministers  di- 
^  Memoires  d^Argenson,  ii.  44. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.       9 

rected  the  counsels  of  the  state.  It  was  a  government 
that  paralyzed  the  energies  of  25,000,000  people.^ 

For  almost  twenty  years  Mnie.  de  Pompadour  con- 
trolled the  destinies  of  France.  The  courtesan  by 
whom  the  land  was  ruined  had  none  of  the  heroic 
qualities  of  Agnes  Sorel,  none  of  the  amiable  qualities 
of  Gabrielle  d'Estr^es.  Oppressive  taxation  and  con- 
stant defeat  were  the  results  of  a  vacillating  and  im- 
potent tyranny.  The  low  profligacy  into  which  the 
king  had  sunk,  the  nullity  of  his  character,  the  turpi- 
tude of  his  mistress,  the  weakness  of  his  administra- 
tion, the  failure  of  all  his  plans,  went  far  toward 
destroying  the  feelings  of  loyalty  that  had  so  long 
existed  in  the  hearts  of  the  French  people.  Some 
curious  figures  mark  the  decline  in  the  estimation  in 
which  the  king  was  held.  In  1744,  six  thousand 
masses  were  said  at  Notre  Dame  for  the  restoration 
of  Louis  XV.  to  health ;  in  1757,  after  the  attempted 
assassination  by  Damiens,  there  were  six  hundred; 
when  the  king  actually  lay  dying,  in  1774,  there  were 
only  three.2  The  fall  from  six  thousand  to  three 
measures  the  decline  in  the  affection  and  respect  of 
the  French  people  for  their  sovereign. 

It  was  with  a  public  whose  sentiments  had  thus 
altered  that  the  new  philosophy  found  acceptance. 
"  Experience  shows  that  we  have  had  ten  bad  kings 
for  one  good  one,"  wrote  a  man  who  had  been  a  min- 
ister of  state.^  A  few  years  later,  a  president  of  the 
Parliament  presented  an  address  to  the  king,  in  which 
he  said  that  the  courts  advocated  the  cause  of  the  peo- 

^  Mem.  d'Augeardy  one  of  the  secretaries  of  Marie  Antoinette. 
2  Journal  de  Hardy,  1774,  cited  in  Aubertin,  U esprit  public  au 
dix-huiliemc  siecle. 
*  Argenson,  vi.  465. 


10  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

pie,  "  by  whom  you  reign,  and  for  whom  you  reign." 
It  was  but  a  step  further  to  declare  that  the  govern- 
ment must  be  by  the  people,  of  the  people,  and  for  the 
people. 

The  new  school  of  thinkers  attacked  both  church 
and  state,  but  the  church,  like  the  state,  was  itself  the 
chief  cause  of  its  own  overthrow.  Few  chapters  of 
religious  history  are  more  lamentable  than  that  of  the 
Gallican  church  during  the  century  which  followed  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  That  measure  was 
the  first  step  on  the  road  which  led  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  establishment  by  which  it  had  been  demanded. 
For  a  time  the  church  could  claim  men  like  Bossuet, 
Fenelon,  and  Massillon,  but  they  had  obtained  their 
nurture  in  a  different  era ;  they  died  and  left  no  succes- 
sors. A  certain  weariness  in  religious  belief  can  be 
observed  during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV. ;  it  became  more  pronounced  under  his  succes- 
sors. Not  often  has  the  cause  of  religion  been  so 
vulnerable  to  attack,  and  so  lacking  in  defenders. 
The  spectacle  offered  by  the  representatives  of  Chris- 
tianity was  not  one  to  check  the  progress  of  unbelief. 
It  was  not  only  that  many  who  held  high  ecclesiastical 
dignities  led  lives  that  were  a  scandal  to  their  profes- 
sion. Bigotry  went  hand  in  hand  with  immorality. 
The  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots  were  odious,  but 
they  were  intermittent ;  the  contest  over  Jansenism 
was  waged  without  intermission.  The  articles  of  be- 
lief so  fiercely  discussed  were  metaphysical  subtleties, 
which  might  have  stirred  the  Eastern  church  in  its 
early  days,  but  which  now  seemed  without  meaning  to 
intelligent  men.  Eeligious  belief  was  defined  with  a 
narrowness  that  would  have  been  extreme  in  the  age 
of  Thomas  Aquinas.     Such  tenets  could  not  thrive  in 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     11 

the  age  of  the  encyclopaedia.  The  bull  Unigenitus, 
issued  by  the  Pope  at  the  dictation  of  the  Jesuits,  con- 
demned many  of  the  dogmas  held  by  their  Jansenist 
opponents.  The  community  made  no  deep  study  into 
the  bewildering  doctrines  of  grace  and  free-will,  which 
were  anathematized  by  the  bull.  The  cause  of  Jan- 
senism was  espoused  by  the  Parliament,  and  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  fair-minded  men,  because  the 
bigotry  and  the  intolerance  of  the  Jesuits  and  the 
higher  clergy  had  become  unbearable.  The  Jansenists 
were  loved  for  the  enemies  they  had  made.  "  The  good 
city  of  Paris,"  said  one  of  its  citizens,  "  is  Jansenist 
from  head  to  foot."  ^  The  burgesses  did  not  claim  to 
comprehend  either  efficacious,  or  co(5perative,  or  pre- 
venting grace  ;  they  adopted  the  cause  of  the  persecuted 
from  indignation  at  the  conduct  of  the  persecutors. 
The  Archbishop  of  Paris  directed  his  clergy  to  refuse 
the  sacraments  to  the  dying  unless  they  declared  their 
adherence  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Unigenitus.  The 
Parliament  protested  against  these  orders  and  forbade 
their  observance.  Half  a  century  was  filled  with  such 
contests. 

While  Huguenot  preachers  were  broken  on  the 
wheel,  and  Jansenist  professors  were  refused  the  sac- 
raments, the  morality  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy 
of  the  Gallican  church  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  When 
cardinals  and  bishops  were  sensualists,  and  friars  and 
curates  were  bigots,  the  laity  became  unbelievers. 

An  institution  which  had  absorbed  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  wealth  of  the  community  and  refused  to    1 
share  in  the  public  burdens,  among  whose  official  expo-     \ 
nents  was  found  scandalous  luxury  and  often  scanda-     ' 
lous  vice,  which  declared  eternal  salvation  to  depend 
1  Barbier,  ii.  202,  1731. 


12  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

upon  the  acceptance  of  incomprehensible  subtleties, 
and  persecuted  with  ferocity  those  who  questioned 
these  tenets,  could  not  continue  to  control  men's  minds 
in  France  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  such  was  the  organization  which  then 
represented  Christianity.  It  fell  of  its  own  weight; 
its  representatives  worked  its  overthrow.  Catholicism 
exists  in  France  to-day  because  it  is  not  what  it  was  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  If  one  wishes  to  under- 
stand the  rapid  spread  of  skepticism  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  has  only  to  study  the 
history  of  the  church  during  the  eighty  years  that  pre- 
ceded the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits.  The  loss  of  reli- 
gious feeling,  said  an  acute  observer  in  1753,  was  not 
to  be  attributed  to  the  teachings  of  philosophers,  but 
to  the  hatred  of  the  priests ;  they  could  hardly  show 
themselves  in  the  streets  without  being  hooted  after.^ 

In  the  church,  as  in  the  state,  there  was  great  im- 
provement during  the  years  that  immediately  pre- 
ceded the  Revolution,  but  public  feeling  had  gone 
so  far  that  such  changes  accelerated  the  catastrophe 
instead  of  retarding  it.  If  the  Jesuits  had  lost  con- 
trol of  the  policy  of  the  church  in  France  half  a  cen- 
tury earlier,  if  principles  of  Christian  toleration  and 
self-abnegation  had  been  practiced  and  preached  by 
the  clergy,  the  attacks  of  writers  like  Voltaire  would 
have  failed  of  their  effect.  But  in  1764  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  regarded  as  a  surren- 
der of  the  outworks  by  those  who  were  resolved  to 
overthrow  the  entire  organization  of  the  Christian 
religion.  The  effect  of  a  measure  depends  more  on 
when  it  is  done  than  how  it  is  done. 

The  contest  between  the  monarchy  and  the  judi- 
^  Memoir es  d'Argenson, 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     13 

ciary  also  helped  to  prepare  men  for  the  doctrines  of 
the  Revolution.  The  measure  of  political  power 
which  the  French  Parliament  had  acquired  was  anom- 
alous ;  it  rested  on  no  sure  basis,  its  capacity  for  de- 
velopment was  limited  by  the  nature  of  the  body. 
In  the  fiercest  of  the  conflict  between  Louis  XV. 
and  the  courts,  their  final  overthrow  was  predicted, 
because  they  were  fanatical,  and  tyrannical,  and  stu- 
pid.^ The  criticism  was  just,  and  the  Parliaments 
passed  away  with  other  institutions  of  the  old  regime. 
In  the  new  political  organization  there  was  no  room 
for  them.  But  in  the  absence  of  any  constitutional 
check  on  the  arbitrary  caprice  of  the  king,  whatever 
might  answer  for  a  check  seemed  of  value.  When 
there  were  no  representative  institutions,  a  body  of 
men  decorous  in  their  character,  conservative  in  their 
views,  independent  of  the  royal  authority,  appeared 
to  stand  for  the  cause  of  the  people.  At  a  time  when 
the  policy  of  the  king  was  sure  to  be  odious,  a  body 
which  was  in  chronic  opposition  was  sure  to  be  popu- 
lar. When  they  refused  registration  of  a  royal  edict, 
they  seemed  to  be  right,  because  the  edicts  were  al- 
most always  wrong.  When  their  members  were 
arrested  or  exiled,  they  were  extolled  as  martyrs  of 
public  liberty.  At  last  the  Parliaments  were  abol- 
ished and  new  courts  established  in  their  stead.  At 
a  different  era  and  under  a  more  vigorous  govern- 
ment, this  measure  would  probably  have  succeeded. 
A  system  in  which  judges  held  their  offices  by  pur- 
chase or  by  inheritance  was  not  one  which  could  have 
withstood  the  innovations  of  a  king  who  was  either 
respected  or  feared  ;  but  in  1771,  Louis  XV.  was 
neither  respected  nor  feared.  The  overthrow  of  a 
1  D'Alembert  to  Voltaire,  1766. 


14     FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

body  winch  stood  in  the  way  of  the  royal  authority 
appeared  to  be  the  downfall  of  part  of  the  system 
of  which  the  king  was  the  head.  The  destruction  of 
the  Parliaments  produced  an  effect  like  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits.  The  old  organism  was  beginning  to 
give  way.  The  Parliaments  were  regarded  as  almost 
as  ancient  and  venerable  as  the  monarchy  itself.  If 
the  one  could  be  destroyed,  why  not  the  other  ?  Insti- 
tutions, whose  origin  was  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  the 
past,  had  seemed  like  a  necessary  part  of  nature.  If 
one  such  could  be  done  away  with,  and  society  con- 
tinued to  exist,  why  might  not  others  be  destroyed 
without  harm  ?  When  the  Parliaments  were  abolished, 
this  act  of  vigor,  instead  of  terrifying  the  unruly, 
suggested  the  possibility  of  doing  without  the  king. 

It  was  not  only  the  internal  development  of  France 
that  made  the  eighteenth  century  a  critical  era  in  po- 
litical and  social  progress.  The  conflict  between  that 
country  and  England  decided  the  fate  of  untold  mil- 
lions in  India  and  America.  England  has  become  the 
great  colonial  power  of  the  world,  and  we  complacently 
assume  that  from  the  qualities  of  English-speaking 
people  it  was  foreordained  that  such  should  be  her 
destiny.  It  is  by  no  means  clear  that  this  was  a  neces- 
sary result.  A  century  and  a  half  ago,  it  seemed  pos- 
sible, and  even  probable,  that  India  and  a  great  part 
of  America  would  remain  under  French  control.  In 
Canada,  an  enterprising  colony,  though  it  had  suffered 
from  injudicious  government,  still  bade  fair  to  estab- 
lish the  power  of  the  Bourbons  over  enormous  tracts 
of  fertile  land  which  were  traversed  by  hardy  pioneers 
and  explorers.  The  title  of  the  French  crown  to  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  practically  uncontested. 
The  sovereignty  of  France  had  been  asserted  over  that 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY,      15 

great  territory  ;  ^Qjleur  de  lis  was  the  only  flag  that 
floated  within  its  boundaries.  A  nominal  suzerainty 
could  easily  have  been  transformed  into  an  undis- 
turbed possession. 

In  India,  the  genius  of  such  men  as  La  Bourdon- 
nais  and  Dupleix  bade  fair  to  do  for  the  Louis  what 
Cliye  and  Hastings  were  actually  to  do  for  the  Georges. 
Had  Pitts  instead  of  Pompadours  ruled  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  had  another  Richelieu  risen  to  sup- 
port the  efforts  of  Dupleix  and  Montcalm,  French  gov- 
ernors might  now  administer  the  affairs  of  Hindustan, 
\\iQjleur  de  lis  or  the  tricolor  might  float  at  Montreal, 
the  French  tongue  be  the  only  one  heard  in  Louisiana 
and  Arkansas,  and  over  vast  territories  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  Of  all  the  evils  which  France  suffered 
from  misrule,  none  was  more  serious  than  the  over- 
throw of  her  hopes  of  colonial  development  from  the 
Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

The  results  of  this  contest  for  foreign  supremacy 
were  of  an  importance  that  can  hardly  be  overesti- 
mated. Great  portions  of  the  New  World  were  settled 
and  ruled  by  English  instead  of  French  speaking  peo- 
ple ;  the  ancient  races,  the  swarming  populations  of 
India,  were  brought  under  the  influence  of  Teutonic 
instead  of  Latin  polity  and  civilization.  The  position 
of  England  was  assured  as  the  greatest  colonizing 
power  since  Rome.  In  the  purposeless  continental 
wars  of  Louis  XV.,  the  blood  and  the  money  of  the 
French  people  were  freely  expended,  with  little  glory 
and  less  gain.  The  maritime  contest  with  England  was 
one  of  the  conflicts  which  affected  the  future  develop- 
ment of  the  world  ;  in  the  importance  of  its  results,  it 
is  not  unworthy  to  be  compared  with  the  contests  be- 
tween Persia  and  Greece,  between  Carthage  and  Rome. 


16  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

It  was  lost  for  France,  almost  by  default,  through  the 
inefficiency  of  her  rulers. 

The  French  might  find  some  consolation  for  the  loss 
of  foreign  possessions  in  the  intellectual  empire  which 
they  acquired.  The  authority  of  the  writers  whose 
works  so  materially  affected  the  beliefs  and  destinies 
of  their  own  countrymen  was  not  bounded  by  the  con- 
fines of  France.  No  other  people,  since  the  overthrow 
of  the  Eoman  Empire,  has  possessed  an  intellectual 
influence  equal  to  that  exercised  by  France  at  this  pe- 
riod. It  was  in  no  wise  due  to  the  political  position 
which  she  then  held.  The  power  of  that  country  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  far  less  im- 
posing than  it  had  been  under  Louis  XIV.  The  states 
of  Europe  no  longer  felt  it  necessary  to  combine 
against  the  ambition  of  France.  She  had  ceased  to 
be  formidable  to  her  neighbors.  At  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XV.,  France  was  of  less  importance 
in  European  politics  than  either  England  or  Austria. 
Though  her  population  was  four  times  as  great  as  that 
of  Prussia,  the  genius  of  Frederick  had  placed  his 
kingdom  almost  on  an  equality  with  its  rival. 

It  was  at  this  era  that  French  writings  influenced 
the  thought  of  every  European  country,  that  they 
were  read  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Volga,  that  the 
origin  of  every  important  political  or  social  change  on 
the  Continent  can  be  traced  to  principles  inculcated 
by  French  thinkers.  At  St.  Petersburg  and  Berlin, 
French  literature  was  regarded  as  the  only  literature  ; 
French  became  the  language  of  letters  as  well  as  of 
diplomacy.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  the  works  of 
Voltaire  were  more  read  in  Russia  than  those  of  any 
Russian  writer,  were  more  read  in  Germany  than  those 
of  any  German  writer,  and  were  more  read  in  the  Low 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     17 

Countries  than  those  of  any  Dutch  writer.  The  state 
of  European  thought  and  the  condition  of  European 
peoples  would  have  been  different  if  Voltaire  and 
Rousseau,  Diderot  and  the  Encyclopsedists,  had  never 
put  pen  to  paper.  The  theories  propagated  by  the 
French  people  have  modified  the  political  and  social 
condition  of  all  peoples. 

If  priority  were  to  be  claimed  upon  the  principles 
by  which  popular  rights  and  a  greater  degree  of  per- 
sonal freedom  have  been  obtained,  it  would  be  awarded 
to  England.  The  influence  of  English  thought  upon 
the  leaders  of  the  philosophical  movement  in  France  is 
as  marked  as  the  influence  of  the  philosophical  move- 
ment upon  the  rest  of  Europe.  It  was  a  natural  result 
of  political  events.  Earely  has  such  an  object-lesson 
been  given  to  a  great  nation.  In  population  and  in 
wealth,  England  was  inferior  to  France;  a  smaller 
amount  of  money  was  collected  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  her  government ;  a  smaller  army  was  employed  to 
maintain  her  honor.  But  in  that  country  a  reasonable 
freedom  was  enjoyed  by  the  individual ;  the  voice  of 
the  people  was  sufficiently  potent  to  obtain  for  a  great 
statesman  the  control  of  the  policy  of  the  state ;  the 
burden  of  taxation  was  imposed  with  sufficient  wis- 
dom and  equality  to  enable  the  nation  to  bear  it  with- 
out exhaustion ;  the  cottage  of  the  peasant  was  not 
plundered  by  the  tax-gatherer  that  the  castle  of  the 
nobleman  might  be  untouched.  That  nation  had  ended 
a  great  war  with  glory,  had  extended  her  dominion 
almost  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun,  had  acquired 
a  position  which  she  was  not  to  lose.  In  France,  a 
monarch  possessing  absolute  power  used  it  with  abso- 
lute folly ;  his  mistress  was  allowed  to  put  her  favor- 
ites in  charge  of  the  army  and  of  the  state,  to  oppose 


18  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Soubise  and  Bernis  to  Frederick  and  Pitt.  A  war 
had  been  undertaken  of  which  the  only  motive  was  to 
punish  a  sovereign  who  had  said  uncivil  things  of 
Mine,  de  Pompadour,  and  to  help  a  sovereign  who  had 
written  polite  things  to  her.  It  had  been  begun  in 
folly,  prosecuted  with  dishonor,  and  had  ended  in  dis- 
grace. The  two  systems  were  judged  by  their  results. 
English  political  principles,  English  philosophical 
principles,  influenced  the  views  of  almost  every  one 
of  the  great  French  writers  during  the  last  half  of 
the  century.  Clarified,  and  sometimes  rarefied,  by  the 
medium  through  which  they  passed,  they  entered  into 
the  thought  and  the  literature  of  Europe. 

Another  branch  of  the  English-speaking  people  ex- 
ercised an  important  influence  upon  the  destinies  of 
France.  Much  in  the  administration  of  Louis  XVI. 
deserves  the  sympathy  of  posterity,  but  nothing  was 
more  admirable  than  the  assistance  given  to  the  Ameri- 
can colonies,  which  were  struggling  for  national  exist- 
ence. Jealousy  of  England  was  among  the  incentives 
which  led  the  French  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  colo- 
nists, but  their  action  was  not  due  to  this  alone.  A 
sincere  sympathy  for  the  principles  proclaimed  by  the 
Americans  gave  enthusiasm  to  an  interference  sug- 
gested by  more  selfish  motives.  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  aid  of  France,  and  of  the  governments  that  were 
enlisted  in  the  cause  by  her  example,  it  is  possible,  and 
perhaps  probable,  that  England  would  have  succeeded 
in  overcoming  the  resistance  of  her  rebellious  subjects. 
Doubtless,  with  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  with 
the  growth  of  population  which  was  inevitable,  the 
United  States,  sooner  or  later,  would  have  become 
independent,  but  the  new  nation  would  have  been 
formed  under  different  auspices,  and  have  had  a  differ- 
ent history. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     19 

The  victory  which  France  secured  for  her  allies  has- 
tened the  end  of  the  old  regime.  Those  who  hoped  for 
its  indefinite  continuance  reckoned  the  American  war 
among  the  errors  by  which  Louis  XVI.  involved  his 
dynasty  in  ruin.^  "  The  American  Revolution  has  laid 
the  foundation  of  another  in  France,  if  government 
does  not  take  care  of  itself,"  wrote,  in  1788,  the  most 
sagacious  of  foreign  observers.^  The  successful  for- 
mation of  a  government  organized  upon  the  principles 
of  equality  and  democracy  prepared  the  overthrow  of 
the  ancient  monarchy.  Such  was  the  condition  of 
France  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century  that  alike  the 
wisdom  and  weakness  of  man,  the  virtues  and  vices  of 
rulers,  the  debauchery  of  Louis  XV.  and  the  well- 
meant  efforts  of  Louis  XVI.,  helped  to  destroy  the 
old  regime. 

Any  long  continuance  of  the  system  then  in  force 
was  impossible.  Doubtless  it  might  have  been  modi- 
fied, and  the  appearance  have  remained,  though  the 
reality  had  departed.  The  difference  between  such  a 
result  and  the  radical  change  which  the  Revolution 
effected  would  have  been  only  in  name.  The  essence 
of  the  French  monarchy,  as  it  had  long  existed,  was 
that  it  should  be  absolute,  that  it  should  govern  un- 
restrained by  any  other  authority.  This  had  been 
the  theory  proclaimed  by  the  rulers,  and  this  was 
the  nature  of  the  government.  "Kings  are  absolute 
lords,"  Louis  XIV.  had  written  for  the  instruction 
of  the  dauphin.  To  substitute  for  such  a  system  one 
of  which  the  power  should  be  exercised  by  the  people, 

1  The  American  war  was  enumerated  at  the  court  of  Vienna 
among  the  instances  of  the  insane  policy  of  Louis  XVI. — 
Mem.  d'Augeard,  279,  287. 

2  Arthur  Young,  September  22,  1788. 


20  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY 

and  of  which  the  king  should  be  only  an  ornamental 
portion,  —  one  which,  like  the  present  government  of 
England,  should  be  a  republic  in  everything  but 
name,  —  would  have  been  as  complete  a  transformation 
as  that  which  was  actually  effected.  In  other  words, 
the  monarchy  could  only  exist  if  shorn  of  all  its 
power;  it  could  escape  annihilation  only  by  being 
reduced  to  a  state  of  Nirvana ;  it  must  pass  away, 
or  become  a  legal  fiction. 

It  was  as  unlikely  that  a  voluntary  surrender  should 
be  made  of  the  aristocratic  privileges  of  the  old  regime 
as  of  the  authority  of  the  king.  Some  of  those  who 
enjoyed  them  praised  the  views  of  philosophers  who 
advocated  equal  rights,  but  their  commendation  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  such  doctrines  were  viewed  as 
intellectual  amusements,  and  not  as  practical  questions. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  the  upper  classes  should 
have  been  oblivious  of  the  approach  of  the  Revolution, 
when  we  consider  the  political  incapacity  which  they 
showed  in  other  respects.  "It  is  a  government  of 
narrow  minds  and  narrow  intelligences,"  wrote,  in  1758, 
a  man  who  was  himself  one  of  its  members.  Thirty 
years  later,  at  the  verge  of  the  Revolution,  another 
observer  truly  said  that  on  the  side  of  the  govern- 
ment there  were  only  people  with  small  wit,  small 
ideas,  and  small  devices.^  The  probability  of  great 
political  changes  was  long  predicted  by  those  who 
possessed  any  political  foresight.  Argenson  had  writ- 
ten over  thirty  years  before :  "  All  orders  are  discon- 
tented at  once,  all  the  material  is  combustible.  An 
emeute  can  become  a  revolt,  and  a  revolt  become  a 
revolution,  when  the  people  will  choose  its  tribunes 
and  its  comitia,  and  king  and  ministers  will  be  de- 
^  Mem.  de  Bezenval,  ii.  250. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     '21 

prived  of  their  power  to  do  harm."  The  possibility  of 
such  a  revolution  was  not  realized  by  those  who  had 
it  in  their  power  to  do  aught  to  avert  it.  "  They  ate 
and  drank  and  sat  and  walked,  loitered  and  smirked 
and  smiled  and  chatted,  with  that  easy  indifference 
that  made  one  stare  at  their  insipidity,"  wrote  Arthur 
Young  of  a  party  of  nobles  with  whom  he  supped, 
when  the  States  General  had  assembled,  and  the  fate 
of  the  old  regime  was  in  the  balance.^  They  were  un- 
concerned at  the  great  social  and  political  changes 
that  were  impending,  because  they  had  no  comprehen- 
sion of  them.     They  were  children  in  politics. 

The  well-meaning  king  was  equally  unfit  to  battle 
with  the  events  which  were  to  determine  his  own  fate 
and  that  of  his  dynasty.  "Yesterday,  while  it  was 
actually  a  question  whether  he  should  be  a  doge  of 
Venice  or  a  king  of  France,  the  king  went  a-hunt- 
ing."  2  Thus  the  Bourbon  dynasty  under  the  old  re- 
gime prepared  for  its  fate. 

The  results  of  the  Revolution  belong  to  modern 
polities.  The  hopes  of  a  regeneration  of  the  race,  of 
the  complete  triumph  of  virtue,  of  unmixed  happiness 
resulting  from  untrammeled  liberty,  which  gave  en- 
thusiasm to  those  who  preached  the  doctrines  of  the 
Revolution,  and  victory  to  the  armies  who  sought  to 
establish  them,  have  not  been  wholly  realized.  Yet 
no  one  who  knows  the  condition  of  the  French  people 
to-day,  and  what  it  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  can  say  that  the  enormous  change  for  the  better 
is  not,  in  large  degree,  the  fruit  of  the  changes  which 
the  Revolution  accomplished. 

The  excesses  and  the  bloodshed  which  accompanied 
the  overthrow  of  old  institutions  still  excite  with  many 
1  Journal,  174.  2  /j.  igi. 


22  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

an  unmeasured  reprobation.  Tliey  are  infinitely  to 
be  regretted  :  honest  men  and  pure  women  were  bar- 
barously murdered;  the  cause  of  better  government 
lost  ground  all  over  the  world  from  the  incapacity 
and  the  crimes  of  those  who  claimed  to  be  its  friends. 
But  there  were  many  years  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  when  more  people  died  in  France 
from  need  and  misery,  resulting  from  unwise  and  un- 
just systems  of  administration  and  taxation,  than  per- 
ished by  violence  during  the  worst  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution. The  death  of  a  peasant's  child,  caused  by  bad 
government  and  iniquitous  social  systems,  deserves 
the  consideration  of  those  who  study  the  history  of 
peoples,  as  much  as  the  unjust  execution  of  a  marquis 
at  the  behest  of  Bareres  and  Fouquier  Tinvilles. 

The  follies  and  tyranny  of  the  Revolution,  and  the 
unfortunate  oscillations  of  French  political  life  which 
have  since  ensued,  are  to  be  attributed,  not  to  the 
fact  that  the  people  changed  their  form  of  govern- 
ment, but  to  the  fact  that  down  to  that  period  they 
had  no  experience  in  self-government ;  they  were  not 
due  to  the  overthrow  of  the  old  regime,  but  to  the 
fact  that  it  had  continued  so  long.  In  a  nation  accus- 
tomed to  take  part  in  the  regulation  of  its  own  affairs, 
and  habituated  to  principles  of  political  equality,  the 
overthrow  of  the  monarchy  would  have  been  followed 
neither  by  the  massacres  of  September,  nor  by  the 
military  despotism  of  Napoleon. 

In  order  to  understand  the  history  of  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  it  is  well  to  make  some  examina- 
tion of  the  administration  of  Louis  XIV.r  to  see  the 
system  of  government  which  he  perfected,  and  the 
condition  in  which  he  left  the  country  at  his  death. 
The  results  of  his  rule  modified  the  development  of 
France. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    EAELY    YEARS    OF    THE    ADMINISTRATION    OP 
LOUIS   XIV. 

1661-1670. 

France,  at  the  death  of  Mazarin,  was  the  most 
powerful  state  in  Europe.  There  were  many  defects 
in  the  character  of  the  cardinal  who,  for  eighteen 
years,  had  controlled  her  destinies.  He  was  greedy 
for  money  ;  he  was  inclined  to  duplicity  and  not  averse 
to  deceit ;  he  w^as  sometimes  timid  and  often  ir- 
resolute ;  he  lacked  that  elevation  of  purpose,  that 
breadth  of  view,  which  the  world  requires  in  those 
whom  it  recognizes  as  its  great  men  ;  but  he  possessed 
an  intellect  of  a  high  order,  and  in  the  long  list  of 
French  kings  and  statesmen,  there  are  few  who  have 
done  so  much  to  increase  the  power  of  France,  and  to 
secure  for  her  that  position  of  paramount  influence  in 
Europe  which  the  French  people  have  always  desired 
and  often  possessed. 

Mazarin,  in  his  foreign  policy,  was  indeed  the  suc- 
cessor of  Richelieu,  but  what  Richelieu  planned  Maza- 
rin accomplished.  In  1620,  Spain  was  still  regarded 
as  a  formidable  rival ;  in  1660,  she  was  in  a  position 
of  acknowledged  inferiority.  When  Richelieu  as- 
sumed power,  the  emperor  was  able  to  contend  with 
the  king  of  France  on  equal  terms.  Such  was  not 
the  case  when  Mazarin  died.  By  the  treaty  of  West- 
phalia, by  the  formation  of  the  League  of  the  Rhine, 


24  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Germany  was  rendered  incapable  of  united  action,  the 
influence  of  Austria  was  diminished,  the  authority  of 
the  empire  was  still  further  reduced. 

France,  on  the  other  hand,  had  largely  increased  in 
territory  and  in  population.  The  great  province  of 
Alsace,  Roussillon,  and  the  most  of  Artois,  large  parts 
of  Flanders  and  Lorraine,  together  with  many  isolated 
districts  and  cities,  were  added  to  France  by  the  trea- 
ties of  Westphalia  and  of  the  Pyrenees.^  While  her 
rivals  had  become  weaker,  she  had  become  stronger, 
and  further  progress  had  been  made  in  the  slow  but 
steady  growth  of  the  kingdom  of  the  French,  a  growth 
which  had  commenced  under  Hugh  Capet,  and  which, 
amid  many  vicissitudes,  had  continued  under  his  suc- 
cessors for  seven  hundred  years. 

The  young  king  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  in 
1643,  and  whose  reign  really  began  in  1661,  found 
himself  occupying  a  commanding  position  in  Europe, 
and  he  found  the  ablest  living  statesmen  already  in 
his  employ.  The  first  twenty  years  of  the  administra- 
tion of  Louis  XIV.,  though  not  free  from  mistakes, 
constitute  a  brilliant  epoch  in  French  history.  The 
king  was  successful  in  his  wars,  nations  prostrated 
themselves  at  his  feet  almost  as  soon  as  his  armies 
entered  their  borders,  cities  and  provinces  were  added 
to  his  domains.  Never  before  had  France  been  so 
feared,  and  not  until  the  victories  of  the  Revolution 
and  of  the  first  Napoleon  did  she  again  excite  equal 
alarm.  Internal  prosperity  accompanied  the  early 
years  of  this  period.     The  outward  display  of  wealth, 

1  The  whole  of  Alsace  was  not  formally  incorporated  into  the 
French  kingdom  by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  but,  excepting  cer- 
tain portions  which  were  not  ceded,  it  became  practically  French 
territory. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  25 

the  erection  of  buildings,  imposing  though  not  al- 
ways beautiful  ;  the  organization  of  institutions  of 
learning  and  art,  industry  and  commerce,  —  com- 
mendable though  not  always  useful,  —  did  much  to 
create  the  halo  which  surrounded  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV.,  and  which  still  hovers  over  it,  though  with  a 
tarnished  lustre. 

The  great  ministers  of  Louis  XIV.  had  been  se- 
lected and  trained  by  the  great  cardinal.  With  the 
exception  of  Louvois,  no  man  of  extraordinary  abili- 
ties was  ever  found  in  Louis's  councils,  save  those 
whom  he  received  as  a  legacy  from  Mazarin.  Lionne, 
Le  Tellier,  and  Colbert  were,  with  Louvois,  the  men 
who  took  the  most  active  part  in  the  government  of 
France  during  the  early  years  of  the  reign.  Lionne 
was  perhaps  the  most  adroit  diplomatist  in  Europe. 
His  abilities  had  been  early  discovered  by  Mazarin, 
and  he  was  given  the  opportunity  of  exercising  them 
in  the  most  important  and  thorny  negotiations.  He 
had  been  sent  to  Rome,  to  Madrid,  to  Germany,  and 
everywhere  he  had  shown  the  highest  order  of  diplo- 
matic finesse.  He  had  drawn  the  articles  of  renuncia- 
tion for  Maria  Theresa  at  the  peace  of  the  Pyrenees 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  Louis  abundant  pretext 
in  the  future  for  claiming  that  he  was  not  bound  by 
them.  For  ten  years  after  Mazarin's  death,  he  had 
charge  of  the  complicated  relations  of  Louis  XIV. 
with  almost  every  nation  in  Europe,  and  no  one  could 
have  been  more  skillful  in  choosing  the  fit  time  for  ac- 
tion, in  discovering  the  plans  and  the  err9rs  of  other 
governments,  in  investing  with  apparent  rectitude  the 
questionable  conduct  of  his  own  sovereign.  Le  Tellier 
had  been  engaged  in  public  affairs  for  over  twenty 
years.     Though  with  less  talent  than  Lionne,  he  was 


26  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

a  man  of  much  sagacity,  of  great  experience,  always 
prudent,  willing  to  conceal  himself  behind  the  shadow 
of  his  master,  the  ideal  servant  for  such  a  king.  Col- 
bert was  less  known.  He  had  as  yet  held  no  important 
office,  but  it  was  understood  that  for  some  years  he 
had  been  more  closely  associated  with  Mazarin  than 
any  other  man  in  France ;  that  he  had  gained  the  entire 
confidence  of  the  cardinal,  both  in  his  ability  and  his 
integrity;  and  that  the  latter  had  specially  recom- 
mended him  to  the  favor  of  the  king. 

While  the  ministers  did  much,  yet  the  young  king, 
who  believed  that  all  was  his  work,  was  actually  an 
important  factor.  The  character  of  Louis  XIV.  was 
so  curious,  and  in  some  respects  so  complex,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  decide  how  much  credit  he  should  receive 
for  what  was  accomplished  during  his  reign.  That  he 
was  responsible  for  some  of  the  greatest  mistakes  ever 
committed  by  a  French  monarch,  that  he  brought  dis- 
aster to  France  and  untold  misery  to  her  people  by  a 
colossal  vanity,  by  unbounded  ambition,  by  reckless 
extravagance,  by  a  narrow-minded  and  superstitious 
bigotry,  is  clear  to  any  one  who  has  studied  the  period, 
not  from  gossipy  memoirs  or  eulogistic  histories,  but 
from  the  sources  which  tell  the  actual  motives  of  the 
governors,  and  the  actual  condition  of  the  governed. 
Yet.,  while  much  in  his  career  excites  reprobation,  and 
some  things  in  his  character  arouse  contempt,  he  was 
far  from  being  a  commonplace  man.  Compared  with 
a  timid  and  irresolute  sovereign  like  his  father,  or  a 
vulgar  debauchee  like  his  successor,  Louis  XIV.  seems 
a  great  king  ;  and,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  he  left  the 
marks  of  his  policy  and  of  his  beliefs  on  the  govern- 
ment, the  people,  and  the  traditions  of  France. 

Louis  formed  the  resolve  to  be  his  own  master,  and 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV,  27 

to  decide  upon  his  own  policy,  and  from  that  resolve 
he  never  consciously  swerved.  Undoubtedly  he  was 
largely  influenced  by  his  ministers,  and  by  the  dis- 
creet suggestions  of  some  of  those  near  to  him.  If  one 
could  advance  ideas  that  should  seem  to  be  those  of 
the  king,  could  insinuate  his  own  views  as  the  reflec- 
tion of  what  was  already  in  the  royal  mind,  it  was  not 
difficult  to  guide  a  monarch  who,  of  all  things  in  the 
world,  most  disliked  to  be  guided.  Still  the  king's  own 
character  and  desires  had  much  to  do  in  the  decisions 
that  were  reached.  He  could  be  led  in  certain  direc- 
tions, but  they  were  those  towards  which  he  was  by 
nature  inclined. 

In  the  early  years  of  his  administration  Louis  de- 
serves much  praise  and  little  blame.  He  dismissed 
Fouquet  and  terminated  his  career  of  corruption.  He 
chose  Colbert  for  financial  minister,  and  kept  him 
in  that  position  until  his  death.  For  many  years  the 
king  showed  a  sincere  desire  not  only  to  magnify  his 
own  name  and  fame,  but  also  to  increase  the  prosper- 
ity and  well-being  of  his  people.  He  sympathized 
with  Colbert  in  his  plans  for  lightening  taxation,  for 
removing  financial  abuses,  for  codifying  and  clarifying 
the  law.  He  was  not  a  man  who  could  take  the  initia- 
tive in  such  measures,  but  he  gave  them  an  intelligent 
approval.  It  is  erroneous  to  suppose  that  Louis  XIV. 
was  grossly  ignorant ;  that  he  had  been  purposely 
trained  to  idleness  and  debauchery,  or  abandoned  to 
a  deplorable  neglect.  Certainly  he  was  not  deeply 
versed  in  history,  he  was  destitute  of  scientific  know- 
ledge, he  was  little  addicted  to  reading,  and  in  all  those 
respects  his  intellectual  condition  was  that  of  most 
of  his  brother  sovereigns.  He  had  been  educated  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  young  noblemen  who  were  his 


28  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

companions,  and  that  was  very  imperfectly.  But  he 
had  received  what  might  justly  be  called  a  royal 
training,  which  was  of  more  importance  for  a  king 
than  knowing  when  Ptolemies  had  reigned,  or  what 
poets  had  flourished  in  past  centuries.  He  was  famil- 
iar with  the  relations  of  France  with  other  countries ; 
he  understood  the  character  of  the  men  who  held 
offices ;  he  was  acquainted  with  the  intrigues  of  the 
court ;  he  knew  how  to  carry  himself  in  his  intercourse 
with  others  ;  he  had  learned  to  be  dignified,  courteous, 
reserved,  and  to  conceal  his  thoughts  and  emotions  to 
an  extraordinary  degree.  Mazarin  had  not  concerned 
himself  with  his  young  master's  progress  in  Latin, 
but  he  had  shown  him  how  peoples  could  be  governed 
and  states  increased ;  the  Duke  of  Villeroy  had  not 
insisted  that  Louis  should  know  his  lessons,  but  he 
had  taught  him  the  bearing  and  manners  that  were  tit 
for  a  king.i 

Though  Louis  was  fixed  in  his  views,  when  once 
formed,  he  reached  his  conclusions  slowly,  and  for 
many  years  his  policy  was  largely  controlled  by  the 
men  he  found  about  him.  Those  were  the  great  years 
of  his  reign.  Unfortunately  for  him,  he  was  to  meet 
with  a  success  that  dazed  him.     He  was  told  that  he 

1  La  Porte  has  left  a  most  sinister  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  Louis  was  brought  up.  St.  Simon,  Mem.  xii.  13,  has  ex- 
pressed the  same  idea  with  his  customary  vigor,  and  from  these 
sources  most  historians  have  received  an  exaggerated  notion 
of  Louis's  ignorance.  These  writers  are  to  be  taken  with  much 
allowance.  St.  Simon's  prejudices  led  him  into  exaggerations 
which  were  strengthened  by  his  genius  for  dark  coloring,  and 
La  Porte  was  a  disappointed,  discharged,  and  malevolent  servant. 
Louis  was  not  a  well-educated  man,  but  I  think  I  have  given  a 
fair  statement  of  the  training  which  he  received  for  the  position 
which  he  was  to  fill. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  29 

was  the  greatest  of  men  and  of  kings,  that  he  was 
invincible  in  arras  and  unequaled  in  wisdom,  until  a 
conviction  that  such  was  the  ease  filled  a  mind  natu- 
rally inclined  to  the  belief.  His  great  ministers  died, 
and  he  thought  himself  equal  to  educating  others  who 
should  take  their  places.  His  egotism  grew,  until  for 
him  France  existed  only  to  subserve  his  splendor,  and 
he  plunged  the  country  into  the  most  disastrous  of 
wars,  only  that  two  thrones  might  be  filled  with  the 
fruit  of  his  loins.  Many  years,  however,  were  to  pass 
before  the  character  of  Louis  was  to  be  fully  devel- 
oped, and  before  the  sinister  results  of  some  phases  of 
it  were  to  become  apparent. 

The  cardinal  died  on  March  9,  1661,  in  the  palace 
of  Vinceniies.  His  death  had  been  for  some  time 
expected,  and,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  those  who 
have  long  held  public  office,  it  was  generally  desired. 
The  public  eagerly  discussed  the  probable  successor  to 
his  power.  Le  Tellier  and  Lionne  had  their  advo- 
cates, but  Foaquet,  on  account  of  his  financial  ability 
and  his  great  prominence,  was  regarded  as  the  man 
most  likely  to  succeed  to  Mazarin's  place.  No  one  sug- 
gested the  possibility  that  the  young  king  might  take 
control  of  his  own  affairs,  and  give  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  the  government  of  his  kingdom.  For  nearly 
forty  years  Richelieu  and  Mazarin  had  successively 
held  the  position  of  prime  minister,  with  almost  unlim- 
ited power.  There  was  nothing  in  the  early  life  of 
Louis  XIV.,  or  in  his  character,  so  far  as  it  was  known, 
to  lead  one  to  suppose  that  he  would  change  this  mode 
of  government.  He  was  a  man  of  twenty-two  when 
Mazarin  died,  and  he  had  shown  no  desire  to  take 
any  active  part  in  political  affairs.  He  was  fond  of 
the  cardinal,  and  he  had  submitted  to  bis  control  with 


30     FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

childlike  docility.  Mazarin  had  chosen  a  wife  for 
him,  had  selected  his  ministers,  had  decided  all  ques- 
tions of  war  and  peace.  Louis  had  been  slow  in  his 
physical  as  well  as  in  his  intellectual  development,  but 
of  late  he  had  shown  a  decided  taste  for  amusement, 
and  all  supposed  that  his  time  would  be  wholly  occu- 
pied with  the  pleasures  that  were  at  the  command  of 
one  who  was  young,  handsome,  robust,  and  a  king. 

At  seven  on  the  morning  of  March  10,  the  chief 
ministers  were  summoned  to  a  council.  Louis  stated 
to  them  that  thus  far  he  had  allowed  his  affairs  to  be 
controlled  by  the  cardinal,  but  it  was  now  time  that 
he  should  himself  direct  them,  and  they  could  aid  him 
with  their  counsels  as  he  should  demand.^  The  public 
were  also  informed  that  the  king  in  person  was  to 
control  the  affairs  of  the  state,  and  to  him  all  must 
apply  who  sought  for  direction  or  for  favor. 

The  declaration  that  Louis  was  to  be  his  own  chief 
minister  was  differently  received  by  different  classes. 
Among  the  masses  of  the  people  it  was  regarded  as  a 
favorable  omen.  That  mistaken  policy  and  oppres- 
sive measures  were  always  the  work  of  ignorant  and 
wicked  ministers  was  a  popular  belief  as  well  as  a 
political  maxim.  The  axiom  that  the  king  could  do 
no  wrong  was  not  regarded  as  a  mere  legal  fiction  by 
the  subjects  of  monarchs  two  centuries  ago.  Now 
that  the  sovereign  was  to  take  charge  of  his  own  af- 
fairs, his  interests  and  those  of  his  people  would  be 
the  same,  and  he  would  see  that  all  wrongs  were  made 
right. 

At  the  court,  on  the  other  hand,  the  announcement 
of  Louis  excited  amusement  rather  than  enthusiasm. 
Few  believed  that  he  would  persevere  in  his  under- 
1  Mem.  de  Lomenie  de  Brienne,    I 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  31 

taking.  He  would  soon  weary  of  long  conferences 
and  tedious  details,  and  some  one 'else  would  decide 
on  measures  in  which  the  king's  part  would  be  con- 
fined to  signing  his  name.  Such,  however,  was  not  to 
be  the  case.  Louis  was  endowed  with  great  persist- 
ence ;  he  resembled  Philip  II.  of  Spain  in  a  strong 
taste  for  the  details  of  business ;  he  was  a  man  of 
methodical  habits  and  of  a  somewhat  stolid  character, 
and  for  fifty-four  years  he  attended  councils  with  his 
ministers,  and  directed  even  the  minutiae  of  govern- 
ment with  the  same  regularity  that  he  held  his  levees 
and  ate  his  enormous  meals.  He  adopted  a  routine 
of  life  when  he  was  but  little  over  twenty,  and  he  felt 
no  desire  to  change  it  when  he  had  reached  threescore 
years  and  ten. 

The  death  of  Mazarin  left  Fouquet  the  most  promi- 
nent of  the  king's  advisers.  For  six  years  he  had 
managed  the  finances  as  he  saw  fit.^  He  had  found 
a  corrupt  system,  and  he  had  rendered  it  more  cor- 
rupt. He  had  enabled  his  friends  to  become  enor- 
mously rich  at  the  expense  of  the  state ;  he  had  given 
freely  of  the  public  funds  to  men  of  rank  and  influ- 
ence ;  he  had  acquired  for  himself  palaces  and  estates, 
where  he  displayed  a  splendor  worthy  of  a  Roman 
proconsul.  The  money  with  which  he  indulged  in  a 
prodigal  extravagance  came  from  the  public  treas- 
ury. The  legitimate  gains  of  the  office  he  held  were 
great ;  he  increased  them  by  corrupt  practices.  He 
received  large  amounts  from  those  who  made  con- 
tracts with  the  state,  or  who  obtained  the  farm  of  the 

1  He  was  appointed  with  Servien,  February  8,  1653.  Servien 
died  in  1659,  and  Fouquet  became  sole  superintendent,  but  in 
1654  he  was  given  control  of  the  receipts  and  of  raising  money. 
—  Edict  of  December  24,  1654,  MSS.  Bib.  Nat. 


32  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

taxes.  Sometimes  he  was  a  partner  in  these  opera- 
tions. Often  mbney  was  taken  in  great  sums  for 
which  no  explanation  was  given,  except  that  it  was 
claimed  to  be  in  payment  of  advances  which  he  had 
made. 

In  all  this  there  was  nothing  very  novel.  Corrup- 
tion in  public  office,  though  not  universal,  was  com- 
mon. It  was  not  a  thing  of  recent  growth.  Robbery 
or  oppression  by  those  in  power  is  the  general  rule  in 
history.  The  comparative  honesty  of  officials  which 
is  now  found  in  most  civilized  nations  is  essentially 
modern,  due  partly  to  better  organization  and  business 
methods,  partly  to  increased  publicity  and  to  a  stronger 
feeling  of  responsibility  to  the  people  for  the  proper 
administration  of  their  affairs.  Perhaps  also  the  ten- 
dency towards  a  monotonous  uniformity  which  is  laid 
to  the  charge  of  modern  democracy  has  had  an  influ- 
ence on  those  who  still  endeavor  to  abuse  public  trust 
for  private  gain.  The  frauds  of  officials  are  now  on 
a  smaller  scale ;  they  are  commonplace,  they  lack  the 
boldness,  they  fail  of  the  dazzling  proportions  of  cor- 
ruption such  as  that  of  Fouquet.^ 

The  superintendent  had  two  most  costly  tastes,  a 
passion  for  building  and  a  passion  for  women.^  It 
was  at  Yaux  that  he  chiefly  indulged  his  taste  for 
building.     Three  villages  were  demolished  to  increase 

1  In  a  late  work,  M.  Lair  has  claimed  that  the  ordinarily 
accepted  view  of  Fouquet's  career  was  unjust,  and  this  position, 
to  some  extent,  seems  to  be  approved  by  M.  Camille  Rousset. 
M.  Lair*s  defense  of  Fouquet  is  learned,  ingenious,  and  agree- 
able, but  not  convincing. 

2  Mazarin  is  said  to  have  told  Louis  that  if  Fouquet  could  get 
women  and  building  out  of  his  head,  he  would  be  capable  ol 
great  things.  The  report  of  this  conversation  was  sent  to  the 
superintendent  by  on?  of  his  spies. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  33 

the  dimensions  of  his  park.  The  chateau  was  designed 
by  Levau,  the  frescoes  were  by  Le  Brun,  the  gar- 
dens were  arranged  by  Le  Notre  in  the  fashion  which 
delighted  contemporaries;  painted  boats  floated  on 
the  lake,  artificial  cascades  made  music  to  tlie  ear, 
jets  of  water  formed  rainbows  in  the  sunlight.  Over 
8,000,000  livres,  it  was  said,  were  spent  on  the  beau- 
ties and  splendors  of  Vaux.^ 

Fouquet  lavished  money  with  equal  profuseness 
upon  the  objects  of  his  affection.  One  maid  of  honor 
demanded  and  received  50,000  crowns,  paid  in  ad- 
vance, to  become  his  mistress.  She  seems  to  have 
been  of  a  practical  turn  of  mind,  and  to  have  pos- 
sessed thrift  if  not  virtue.  She  had  long  held  a  writ- 
ten promise  of  marriage  given  by  a  reluctant  duke ; 
with  such  a  sum  for  a  dowry,  she  hoped  to  induce  him 
to  fulfill  his  engagement.  After  all,  she  lost  both  the 
duke  and  the  superintendent,  and  was  obliged  to  seek 
the  religious  retreat  of  a  convent.^  While  the  money 
of  the  public  was  thus  squandered  on  palaces  and 
prostitutes,  a  contemporary  tells  us  of  the  condition 
of  those  who  paid  the  taxes.  A  physician  of  Blois 
writes :  ''  For  thirty-two  years  I  have  seen  nothing 
which  approaches  the  desolation  at  Blois  and  in  the 
country  about.  The  famine  is  so  great  that  the  peas- 
ants are  eating  carrion,  and  as  soon  as  an  animal  dies 
they  devour  it.  .  .  .  Though  there  is  a  little  barley, 

^  Full  accounts  of  Vaux  and  its  beauties  can  be  found  in  the 
poems  of  La  Fontaine,  as  well  as  in  less  familiar  contemporary 
literature. 

2  The  letters  which  describe  the  entire  intrigue  are  in  the 
Biblioth^que  Nationale,  Papiers  de  Fouquet,  t.  i.,  ii.,  and  are  most 
unedifying  reading.  They  are  chiefly  written  by  a  go-between. 
The  maid  of  honor  is  usually  called  Menneville,  but  she  signed 
her  name  de  Manneville. 


34  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

it  has  not  been  sold,  because  no  one  has  any  money 
to  pay  for  it.  This  district  subsists  from  the  sale  of 
wine,  but  it  cannot  be  sold,  nor  are  there  horses  to 
draw  it  to  market,  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the 
taxes."  ^  Such  was  often  the  condition  of  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  population  of  France.  Sometimes  it 
was  extreme  misery,  at  best  it  was  need,  hardship,  and 
penury.  To  a  large  extent,  the  splendor  of  the  king 
and  the  magnificence  of  the  nobility  were  ultimately 
paid  for  by_  people  whose  lot  was  miserable,  and  who 
had  neither  the  possibility  nor  the  hope  of  bettering 
it.  This  is  a  fact  that  must  not  be  forgotten  in  form- 
ing our  judgment  upon  .the  ancient  regime,  and  the 
Revolution  that  destroyed  it. 

Colbert  had  long  been  an  enemy  of  Fouquet,  and 
had  written  Mazarin  complaining  of  the  procedure  of 
the  superintendent.  The  cardinal,  however,  had  de- 
layed taking  any  action,  and  his  death  left  Fouquet 
at  the  height  of  his  prosperity.  The  young  king  de- 
cided upon  his  overthrow  very  soon  after  Mazarin's 
death.2  q^j^^  corruption  of  the  superintendent  was 
offensive  to  Louis,  and  his  prodigality  and  display 
were  equally  so.  The  chateau  and  the  gardens  of 
Vaux  were  more  magnificent  than  anything  which 
the  king  then  possessed,  and  this  was  irritating  to  a 
sensitive  and  jealous  vanity.^    Fouquet  undertook  to 

1  M.  Bellay  to  Marquis  of  Sourdis.  Abundance  of  similar  let- 
ters from  other  sections  can  be  found  in  Correspondance  Admi- 
nistrative sous  Louis  XI  V.y  and  in  MSS.  at  the  Bib.  Nat.  Bellay 
closes  by  asking  a  remission  of  one  half  of  the  taille. 

2  Louis,  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  says  that  he  had  decided 
upon  the  arrest  by  May.  —  (Euvres,  v.  53. 

8  Buildings,  furniture,  silver,  and  ornaments  were  for  the 
financiers,  Colbert  wrote  Louis,  while  the  king's  buildings  were 
delayed  by  lack  of  money,  and  the  royal  mansions  were  unfur- 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LOUIS  XIV,  35 

render  a  statement  to  the  king,  and,  relying  on  liis 
ignorance  of  financial  matters,  he  falsified  it  in  some 
respects.  The  errors  might  not  have  been  detected 
by  Louis,  but  they  were  exposed  by  Colbert.^ 

Though  Fouquet's  overthrow  was  determined,  it  was 
postponed,  and  the  king  concealed  his  purpose  with 
that  courteous  dissimulation  of  which  he  was  always  a 
master.  The  superintendent  was  not  without  anxiety, 
but  he  felt  that  his  position  was  probably  secure.  Louis 
proceeded  with  great  precaution  towards  the  measure 
upon  which  he  had  decided.  Only  a  few  years  before, 
the  arrest  of  an  influential  nobleman  had  been  a  seri- 
ous enterprise  for  the  government.  The  absolute  au- 
thority of  the  sovereign  was  not  yet  so  unquestioned 
as  it  was  fifty  years  later.  Fouquet  appeared  to  be  so 
powerful,  he  had  put  under  obligations  so  many  of 
influence  in  the  state,  that  his  overthrow  seemed  a 

nished.  —  Mem.  in  Colbert's  own  handwriting,  now  in  the  Bib. 
Nat. 

"  La  mauvaise  satisfaction  qu'avait  sa  majestd  .  .  .  particu- 
li^rement  de  la  dissipation  qu'il  faisoit  dans  ses  batiments." — Le 
Tellier  to  Bezons,  September  17,  1661,  D.  G.,  169. 

^  It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  Fouquet  endeavored  to 
become  the  lover  of  La  Valliere,  who  was  then  Louis's  mistress, 
and  that  this  increased  the  royal  indignation.  Among  the  MSS. 
preserved  in  the  Bib.  Nat.  is  what  purports  to  be  a  copy  of  a 
letter  sent  Fouquet  by  one  of  his  go-betweens,  in.  which  she  says 
she  had  offered  20,000  pistoles  to  La  Valliere,  and  had  been 
indignantly  repulsed.  Many  of  the  letters  found  in  Fouquet's 
famous  cassette  des  poulets  were  destroyed,  and  many  were  fabri- 
cated, among  those  preserved ;  one  has  to  decide  upon  their 
authenticity  from  internal  evidence.  I  am  convinced  that  the 
letter  in  reference  to  La  Valliere  was  manufactured.  It  has 
been  accepted  by  most  historians  as  a  proof  of  Fouquet's  pre- 
sumption and  a  reason  for  Louis's  indignation ;  but  closer  re- 
search destroys  many  of  the  piquant  anecdotes  of  history.  One 
finds  more  that  is  grimy  and  less  that  is  picturesque. 


86     FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

formidable  undertaking.  Among  his  papers,  which 
were  seized,  was  found  a  plan  for  resistance  by  force, 
in  case  of  his  arrest.^  The  result  showed  that  he  had 
mistaken  the  time  and  his  own  position.  The  Fronde 
was  passed,  and  of  all  those  whom  he  had  bribed  so 
liberally,  not  one  raised  a  hand  in  his  behalf. 

In  the  mean  time  Fouquet  continued  to  give  offense 
by  his  financial  irregularities,  and  still  more  by  a  dis- 
play of  ostentatious  magnificence.  Fetes  were  given 
at  Vaux  of  a  splendor  hitherto  unknown.  In  August, 
1661,  Louis  himself  and  Anne  of  Austria  were  there 
entertained.  It  was  said  that  six  thousand  guests 
were  invited  to  the  festivities.  Over  four  hundred 
plates  of  massive  gold  adorned  the  table.  The  foun- 
tains played  ;  nymphs,  satyrs,  and  dryads  disported 
themselves  for  the  amusement  of  the  spectators.^  Te- 
dious grandeur  such  as  this  was  dear  to  Louis's  heart. 
When  palaces  were  built  and  parks  were  laid  out  for 
him,  they  resembled  those  of  Vaux.  He  loved  the 
monotonous  regularity  of  the  walks  and  the  artificial 
clipping  of  the  trees,  sea-gods  reciting  poems  which 
told  of  his  greatness,  and  marine  monsters  spouting 
his  praise.  But  such  splendor  displayed  by  a  sub- 
ject, and  a  subject  who  did  not  owe  his  wealth  to  the 
king's  liberality,  was  offensive.  Louis  was  anxious  to 
have  Fouquet  arrested  in  the  midst  of  the  festivities; 
he  deferred  his  purpose,  but  only  for  a  time. 

1  The  text  of  this  project  is  found  in  the  Bib.  ISTat.,  MSS,  de 
Colbert  It  was  drawn  up  when  Fouquet  feared  that  Mazarin 
would  attempt  his  overthrow,  and  was  in  Fouquet 's  own  hand- 
writing. 

2  Full  accounts  of  the  festivities  at  Vaux  are  found  in  La  Fon- 
taine, and  in  the  memoirs  and  journals  of  the  time.  An  inventory 
of  the  furniture  was  made  after  Fouquet's  arrest.  —  MSS.  Bib. 
Nat.,  Portefeuilles  de  Valiant,  t.  iii. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  37 

On  the  5th  of  September,  the  king  was  at  Nantes, 
where  Fouquet  and  the  other  ministers  had  followed 
him.  In  the  morning  the  superintendent  had  a  long 
interview  with  Louis,  who  treated  him  with  his  usual 
courteous  affability.  As  he  was  leaving  the  chateau  he 
was  arrested  by  D'Artagnan,  a  lieutenant  of  the  mus- 
keteers. The  prisoner  asked  to  see  the  order,  lest  there 
should  be  some  error,  and  then  said  that  he  had  sup- 
posed no  one  in  the  kingdom  stood  better  with  the 
king  than  himself.  He  was  taken  to  the  chateau  of 
Amboise  and  closely  confined.^  The  fallen  minister 
was  greeted  with  contumely  by  the  people,  who  had 
indeed  little  reason  to  love  him.  "  If  he  escapes  you," 
they  cried  to  D'Artagnan,  "  we  will  hang  him  with  our 
own  hands."  ^ 

The  indignation  against  Fouquet  when  he  was  first 
arrested  was  universal.  The  details  of  his  peculations, 
his  preparations  for  armed  resistance,  the  scandalous 
correspondence  brought  to  light  between  him  and  his 
numerous  mistresses,  excited  the  censure  of  all.  If 
he    had    been    promptly  brought  to  trial,  he  would 

1  The  most  trustworthy  account  of  Fouquet's  arrest  is  the 
official  report  prepared  by  Foucaulf,  and  published  in  the  intro- 
duction to  vol.  ii.,  Mem.  c?'  Ormesson,  The  Memoires  de  Lomenie 
de  Brienne  purport  to  give  a  full  account  of  this  affair,  and  con- 
tain many  dramatic  incidents.  They  have  been  largely  relied 
upon  by  historians,  but  they  are  inaccurate.  Louis's  own  account, 
CEuvres  de  Louis  XlV.y  t.  i.  101-104,  and  a  letter  written  by  him 
to  his  mother,  Z6.,  t.  i.  v.  50-54,  on  the  day  of  the  arrest,  are  the 
most  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  views  of  the  king,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  carried  out.  A  paper  prepared  by 
Colbert  gives  the  arrangements  for  the  arrest.  With  his  usual 
attention  to  detail,  he  even  provided  how  Fouquet's  linen  should 
be  sent  to  him. 

2  Mem,  d^OrmessoUf  ii.  99.  He  was  told  this  by  D'Artagnan 
himself. 


88  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

undoubtedly  have  been  sentenced  to  death ;  but  the 
delays  which  resulted  from  the  procedure  adopted  by 
Louis  and  Colbert  saved  his  life.  Fouquet  demanded 
to  be  tried  by  the  Parliament.  This  was  denied,  and 
a  special  commission  was  appointed,  as  was  usually 
done  in  political  prosecutions  of  importance.  It  would 
have  been  easy  to  select  a  few  items  of  malversation, 
and  the  trial  would  have  been  comparatively  brief. 
Instead  of  that,  the  indictment  covered  almost  the 
whole  of  Fouquet's  administration.^  He  sought  to 
meet  it  by  claiming  that  he  was  driven  to  such  irregu- 
larities, either  by  the  rapacity  of  Mazarin,  or  by  the 
necessities  of  the  state.  Instead  of  harming  France, 
he  claimed  that  he  had  saved  her  by  raising  money 
when  no  one  else  could  obtain  it ;  if  he  had  acquired 
great  estates,  he  owed  for  them,  and  it  was  doubtful 
whether  after  years  of  service  he  had  enough  money 
to  pay  his  debts.^ 

A  short  answer  to  this  was,  that  every  year  he  had 
spent  millions  upon  himself,  all  of  which  had  come, 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  public  treasury.  But 
many  things  turned  popular  opinion  in  his  favor.  Col- 
bert's measures  against  .the  financiers,  and  his  reduc- 
tion of  the  public  rentes,  made  the  government  un- 
popular among  the  classes  with  which  the  judges  were 
associated.  Th^  minister  wisely  reduced  the  exces- 
sive number  of  fete  days,  which  were  a  burden  on  the 
industry  of  the  country,  and  the  church  cried  out 
against  this  as  an  irreligious  act.  On  the  other  hand, 
though  Fouquet  had  been  presumptuous  in  his  pros- 

1  "  Indictment "  is  not  an  accurate  term  for  the  procedure,  but 
it  conveys  the  idea  to  English  readers. 

2  The  defenses  of  Fouquet  have  been  published,  and  are  ex- 
ceedingly voluminous. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  39 

perity,  he  now  showed  both  dignity  and  firmness.  He 
manifested,  moreover,  an  edifying  contrition,  and  trans- 
lated a  psalm  to  occupy  his  weary  hours.^  He  had 
at  once  demanded  a  confessor,  one  of  special  capacity, 
neither  an  ignoramus  nor  a  Jansenist,  he  wrote,  be- 
cause he  had  long  accounts  to  render  to  his  God.^ 
He  was  transferred  to  the  Bastille  during  his  trial, 
and  it  was  not  till  1664  that  he  was  examined  orally 
before  the  commission.  The  Chancellor  Seguier  pre- 
sided, and  questioned  him  with  the  insolence  and 
unfairness  which  French  judges  often  regard  as  the 
proper  manner  to  address  one  accused  of  crime.  Fou- 
quet  answered  with  spirit  and  adroitness,  and  made  a 
favorable  impression  upon  the  court. 

Both  Louis  and  Colbert  brought  great  pressure  on 
the  judges  to  shorten  the  trial,  and  to  render  the  judg- 
ment that  was  desired.  It  was  extraordinary,  said 
Colbert,  that  the  most  powerful  king  of  Europe  could 
not  bring  the  trial  of  one  of  his  own  subjects  to  a 
close."  But  the  French  judges  held  their  places  by 
inheritance  or  by  purchase.  They  could  not  be  re- 
moved, they  formed  almost  a  caste  in  the  state,  and 
they  were  impatient  of  royal  influence.  Not  until 
December,  1664,  was  the  sentence  of  the  court  pro- 
nounced. There  could  be  no  question  of  Fouquet's 
guilt;  the  king  desired  that  he  should  be  punished 
by  death,  and  from  that  fate  Fouquet's  friends  sought 
to  save  him.  Nine  voted  for  death,  thirteen  voted  for 
banishment  and  confiscation  of  his  estates.^    Even  the 

1  Mem.  d'Ormesson^  ii.  80. 

2  Fouquet  to  Le  Tellier,  October,  1661. 

2  Ormesson,  ii.  137.  The  remark  was  made  by  Colbert  to 
Ormesson's  father.  Ormesson  himself  was  one  of  the  recalcitrant 
judges. 

*  The  news  of  Fouquet's  escape  was  received  with  delight. 


40  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

latter  punishment  might  seem  sufficiently  rigorous,  but 
the  king  was  greatly  offended.  The  judges  who  voted 
for  mercy  were  never  forgiven,  and  they  sacrificed  all 
hope  of  advancement.  By  a  curious  application  of  the 
royal  right  to  exercise  clemency,  Louis  changed  the 
sentence  of  banishment  to  imprisonment  for  life.  It 
would  hardly  seem  a  more  violent  exercise  of  arbitrary 
power  if  he  had  imposed  the  penalty  of  death  of  his 
own  motion,  but  even  Louis  XIV.  hesitated  to  execute 
a  man  without  a  sentence  from  some  sort  of  judicial 
tribunal.  An  act  contrary  to  all  rules  of  law  aroused 
no  comment  among  the  French.  Even  the  friends  of 
Fouquet  made  no  protest ;  no  fixed  system  controlled 
the  arbitrary  authority  of  the  sovereign,  and  no  public 
opinion  condemned  its  excesses.  Fouquet  was  taken 
to  the  prison  of  Pignerol  and  closely  confined.  He 
was  allowed  abundant  facilities  for  hearing  daily  mass, 
and  he  was  allowed  little  else.  Five  times  a  year  he 
might  confess  himself,  but  he  could  see  neither  his  wife 
nor  his  friends.  Not  until  fourteen  years  had  passed 
was  he  permitted  to  see  his  family  ;  and  although  the 
rigor  of  his  confinement  was  slightly  diminished,  he 
remained  in  the  prison  of  Pignerol  until  his  death  in 
1680.1 

"  Ainsi  M.  Fouquet,  qui  avoit  est^  en  horreur,  et  qui  tout  Paris 
eust  vu  ex^cutd  avec  joye  incontinent  apres  son  proces  com- 
mence, est  devenu  le  sujet  de  la  douleur  et  de  la  commiseration 
publiques,  par  la  hayne  que  tout  le  monde  a  dans  le  cceur  contre 
le  gouvernement  present."  —  Journal  d^ Ormes son,  December  20, 
1664. 

1  The  authorities  for  the  latter  part  of  Fouquet's  career  are 
abundant.  In  Memoires  (TOrmesson,  vol.  ii.,  is  a  detailed  account 
of  the  trial,  which  shows  also  the  changes  in  public  opinion  and 
the  sentiments  of  the  judges.  Ormesson  voted  against  death, 
and  was  punished  for  his  conduct  by  a  petty  persecution.    Jour- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  41 

The  overthrow  of  a  powerful  minister  showed  that 
Louis  intended  to  act  with  energy  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  his  kingdom.  It  soon  appeared  that  in  his 
relations  with  foreign  powers  he  was  resolved  to  con- 
duct matters  with  a  high  hand.  Questions  of  pre- 
cedence had  long 'been  deemed  of  much  importance 
by  the  various  European  governments.     Ambassadors 

nal  de  Foucault  also  contains  an  official  report  of  the  trial.  A 
large  part  of  this  has  been  published  by  M.  Ch^ruel.  The  let- 
ters contained  in  Fouquet's  cassette  are  among  the  MSS.  in  the 
Bib.  Nat.  Some  of  them  have  been  published.  Fouquet's  own 
version  of  his  career  occupies  no  less  than  fifteen  volumes,  pub- 
lished as  Defenses  de  Fouquet,  edition  1665.  (Emires  de  Louis 
XI  v.,  i.  101-104,  V.  50-54,  give  the  king's  version  of  the  mat- 
ter. The  memoirs  of  Abbd  de  Choisy  and  Mme.  de  Motteville 
contain  some  information.  Many  documents  throwing  light  on 
Fouquet's  conduct,  and  Colbert's  own  letters  and  memoirs  pre- 
sented to  Mazarin  and  the  king,  and  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance, are  contained  in  Lettres  de  Colbert,  t.  i. 

The  letters  of  Mme.  de  S^vignd,  written  day  by  day,  give  a 
charming  account  of  Fouquet's  examination,  and  the  sentiments 
of  his  friends  at  the  closing  scenes  of  the  trial.  Many  valuable 
letters  and  documents  are  published  in  Ch^ruel's  Memoires 
sur  Fouquet.  References  to  Fouquet's  career  and  overthrow  are 
found  in  innumerable  letters  and  contemporary  memoirs.  Some 
curious  letters  are  published  in  Causeries  d'un  curieux.  Walcke- 
naer,  Memoires  sur  Mme.  de  Sevigne  may  profitably  be  consulted 
on  Fouquet's  financial  procedure.  The  fact  of  Fouquet's  death 
in  1680  has  been  disputed.  An  ingenious  scholar  has  claimed  that 
he  lived  until  1703,  and  that  he  was  the  Man  with  the  Iron  Mask. 
This  theory  is  as  plausible  as  any  other  that  has  been  advanced 
on  that  question,  which  is  not  saying  much.  Fouquet's  death  in 
1680  is  proved  by  more  satisfactory  evidence  than  the  existence, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  identity,  of  the  man  with  the  mask.  The 
documents  to  show  that  any  man  was  kept  a  prisoner,  in  the  man- 
ner which  has  excited  so  much  interest  in  posterity,  are  not  above 
suspicion.  It  is  of  course  possible  that  there  may  have  been  some 
such  caprice  of  punishment  ;  but  if  so,  there  is  neither  evidence 
nor  any  satisfactory  theory  to  show  who  was  the  person. 


42  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

had  wrangled  as  much  over  their  order  of  going  as 
over  the  terms  of  the  treaties  they  signed.  Such  mat- 
ters were  not  likely  to  be  disregarded  by  a  monarch  to 
whom  etiquette  was  dear,  and  who  felt  that  deference 
to  his  person  and  to  those  who  represented  him  was 
almost  a  law  of  nature. 

The  precedence  of  the  representatives  of  France 
over  those  of  Spain  had  long  been  asserted,  and  was 
usually  conceded.  But  though  always  claimed  by  the 
former,  it  was  not  acknowledged  by  the  latter.  The 
Baron  of  Vatteville  was  in  16G1  the  Spanish  envoy  at 
London,  while  the  Count  d'Estrades  represented  the 
French.  Vatteville  resolved  to  contest  the  question 
of  precedence,  and  by  arms  if  necessary.  He  was 
sure  of  the  sympathy  of  the  mob  in  any  brawl  with 
the  French,  and  he  had  the  confidence  in  his  success 
which  was  justified  by  the  result.  Estrades,  at  the 
request  of  Charles  II.,  sought  to  avoid  an  encounter, 
but  such  measures  were  not  acceptable  to  his  master. 
He  received  specific  orders  to  appear  at  the  next  pub- 
lic ceremonial,  and  to  seize  and  hold  the  first  place. 
Accordingly,  at  the  reception  of  the  ambassador  of 
Sweden,  the  French  gathered  some  five  hundred  men, 
while  the  Spanish  also  assembled  in  strong  force.  A 
fight  took  place  in  the  streets,  in  which  the  Spanish 
had  the  best  of  it.  The  horses  drawing  the  French 
minister  were  killed,  and  also  several  of  his  men,  while 
the  coach  of  Vatteville,  with  fifty  drawn  swords  to 
guard  it,  went  triumphantly  through  the  city  next  to 
the  coach  of  the  king.  "  At  which,"  says  Pepys,  "  it 
is  strange  to  see  how  all  the  city  did  rejoice.  And  in- 
deed we  do  naturally  all  love  the  Spanish,  and  hate 
the  French."  i 

1  Pepys,  Diary,  vol.  i.  223,  September  30,  1661.     Pepys  says 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  43 

The  triumph  was  short-lived.  When  the  news 
reached  Louis,  he  was  thrown  into  a  violent  rage. 
He  proceeded  with  a  vigor  that  was  easy  for  him,  be- 
cause he  was  eager  for  war,  and  because  France  was 
powerful  and  Spain  was  weak.  The  Spanish  minister 
at  Paris  was  at  once  dismissed.  •  A  peremptory  de- 
mand was  made  for  the  punishment  of  Vatteville,  and 
Philip  IV.  was  informed  that  Louis  would  exact 
proper  satisfaction  unless  his  requests  were  heeded. 
The  situation  of  the  Spanish  king  was  indeed  lament- 
able. He  knew,  so  far  as  he  had  intelligence  to  know 
anything,  that  the  vast  possessions  of  the  Spanish 
monarchy  lay  scattered  and  undefended,  ready  for  the 
spoiler.  He  was  approaching  the  end  of  a  life  of  dis- 
aster ;  he  was  infirm  in  body  and  mind.  He  yielded 
everything.  Vatteville  was  recalled  and  disgraced. 
The  Count  of  Fuensaldagua  was  sent  to  Louis  as  am- 
bassador extraordinary.  In  a  solemn  audience  at  the 
Louvre,  before  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  pow- 
ers, he  apologized  for  the  past,  and  announced  that  his 
master  had  ordered  his  ministers  in  all  courts  to  aban- 
don any  contest  for  precedence  over  the  representa- 
tives of  France.  Such  a  victory  was  dear  to  the  young 
king.  The  completeness  of  the  submission  and  the 
elaborate  ceremonial  of  the  surrender  gratified  his 
pride,  his  vanity,  and  his  fondness  for  parade.^ 

the  French  were  four  to  one.  Louis,  on  the  other  hand,  claims 
that  the  Spanish  had  2,000  supporters  to  500  of  the  French.  — 
(Euvres,  i.  124,  125. 

Pepys  visited  the  French  headquarters  after  the  encounter, 
and  says :  "  They  all  look  like  dead  men,  and  not  a  word  among 
them,  but  shake  their  heads." 

1  Dumont,  Corps  Diplomatique,  vi.  part  2,  403,  404.  A  full 
and  an  accurate  account  of  this  entire  imbroglio  is  found  in 
CEuvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  i.  118-140.     He  gave  his  personal  at- 


44  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

The  next  year  gave  Louis  a  still  more  conspicuous 
opportunity  of  asserting  his  dignity.  The  Pope  Alex- 
ander VII.  had  been  on  indifferent  terms  with  Maza- 
rin,  and  for  some  years  the  French  had  no  represen- 
tative at  the  papal  court.  In  1662,  Louis  sent  the 
Duke  of  Crequi  as  his  ambassador.  The  French  min- 
isters at  Rome  claimed  many  privileges ;  their  retainers 
were  apt  to  be  quarrelsome,  and  they  were  regarded 
with  small  favor  by  the  Roman  officials.  Both  sides 
were  well  provided  with  cutthroats  and  desperadoes, 
and  it  required  little  to  excite  a  skirmish.  In  August, 
1662,  as  the  result  of  some  brawl,  the  Corsican  guard 
attacked  the  palace  occupied  by  the  Duke  of  Crequi. 
Bullets  were  fired  ;  several  were  killed,  among  them  a 
page  of  the  duchess,  and  the  firing  continued  for  some 
time.^  The  duke  demanded  the  punishment  of  the 
aggressors,  but  he  demanded  it  in  vain,  and  he  with- 
drew from  the  city. 

The  Pope  hated  the  French.  He  was  far  removed 
from  France.  He  hoped  that  if  Louis  resorted  to  vio- 
lence, other  Catholic  powers  would  intervene,  and  he 
contented  himself  with  a  nominal  punishment  of  some 
of  the  offenders.  But  he  miscalculated  the  man  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal.  Louis  was  always  a  sincere  and 
a  bigoted  Catholic ;  but  like  others  of  equal  sincerity, 
he  allowed  his  religious  zeal  to  exercise  itself  where  it 
was  most  convenient.     His  piety  never  deprived  him 

tention  to  the  matter,  and  was  rigorous  in  the  assertion  of  his 
rights.  "  C'est  k  nous  k  former  nos  resolutions,  personne  n'osant 
ni  ne  pouvant  quelquefois  nous  les  inspirer  aussi  bonnes  et  aussi 
royales  que  nous  les  trouvons  en  nous-memes,'*  he  writes  his  son 
in  his  account  of  the  afPair,  p.  131. 

1  Letter  of  Duke  of  Crequi  to  king,  August  21, 1662 :  Affaires 
Etrangeres. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  45 

of  a  mistress ;  his  veneration  for  the  Pope  never  re- 
strained him  from  asserting  his  own  dignity.  His 
wrath  was  now  fierce,  and  he  resolved  to  teach  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter  that  he  owed  deference  to  the  king 
of  France  as  well  as  to  the  king  of  heaven.  The  papal 
nuncio  was  sent  to  the  frontiers  under  military  guard, 
and  Louis  declared  that  he  would  enforce  satisfaction 
for  his  dignity  by  arms.  The  monarch  who  was  to  re- 
voke the  Edict  of  Nantes  narrowly  escaped  beginning 
his  military  career,  as  did  that  other  great  Catholic, 
Philip  II.,  by  a  war  against  the  Holy  Father.  In  the 
spring  of  1663,  an  army  of  twenty-four  thousand  men 
prepared  to  march  to  Rome.^  The  Parliament  de- 
clared Avignon  reunited  to  France.  The  Sorbonne 
solemnly  condemned  the  asserted  infallibility  of  the 
Pope,  and  any  claim  of  authority  on  his  part  over 
the  temporal  affairs  of  kings.  While  Louis  prepared 
to  batter  down  the  gates  of  Rome,  he  sought  to  do  it 
piously.  He  did  not  wish  to  be  reproached  with  send- 
ing Huguenots  to  attack  the  Holy  Father.  The  su- 
perintendent, who  had  charge  of  the  provisions,  was 
directed  to  pay  special  attention  to  fast  days,  and 
to  see  that  on  Fridays  the  soldiers  had  salt  fish  and 
cheese  instead  of  meat.^  Thus  equipped  with  both 
temporal  and  spiritual  weapons,  in  September,  1663, 
the  advance  guard  crossed  the  Alps.  In  the  early 
spring  the  whole  army  was  to  be  reunited  and  to  pro- 
ceed to  Rome. 

In  the  mean  time  Alexander  VII.  sought  for  suc- 
cor, but  in  vain.  Neither  the  king  of  Spain  nor  the 
Emperor  cared  to  be  involved  in  a  war  with  France 
in  order  to  save  the  dignity  of  a  petulant  Pope.     The 

^  Le  Tellier  to  Superintendent  of  Aubeville,  March  19,  1663. 
2  D.  G.  182,  cited  by  Rousset. 


46  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

people  looked  upon  the  affair  with  indifference.  The 
Italian  princes  were  not  disposed  to  defend  a  poten- 
tate whom  they  hated  as  a  prince  and  did  not  rever- 
ence as  a  bishop.  When  escape  was  impossible,  when 
it  was  certain  that  in  a  few  days  the  French  would  be 
at  the  gates  of  Rome,  Alexander  submitted.  He  was 
not  treated  with  the  leniency  which  his  predecessor 
had  received  from  Philip  II.  Everything  was  done 
to  exalt  the  king  and  to  mortify  the  Pope.  The  Duke 
of  Crequi  was  met  at  the  frontier,  and  solemnly  es- 
corted to  his  palace  at  Rome.  The  Corsican  guard 
had  already  been  dismissed,  and  all  Corsicans  were 
now  declared  forever  debarred  from  the  service  of  the 
papal  government.  A  pyramid  was  erected  at  Rome, 
on  which  was  inscribed  the  crime  and  the  punishment 
of  the  Corsicans.  As  a  final  act  of  humiliation,  Car- 
dinal Chigi,  the  Pope's  nephew,  who  was  believed  to 
have  encouraged  the  assault,  was  sent  to  Versailles  as 
papal  legate,  and  there  presented  to  Louis  the  regrets 
of  his  Holiness  for  this  unhappy  occurrence,  and  the 
assurances  of  his  own  respect  and  devotion.  On  these 
conditions  only  did  Alexander  obtain  forgiveness. 
Avignon  was  restored,  and  the  advance  of  the  French 
was  countermanded.^ 

These  diplomatic  triumphs  produced  a  great  moral 

1  The  history  of  the  military  operations  against  the  Pope  can 
be  found  in  the  letters  preserved  in  the  D^pot  de  la  Guerre. 
They  are  condensed  in  Rousset's  Histoire  de  Louvois.  See,  also, 
for  the  history  of  this  transaction.  Instructions  donnees  aux  Am- 
hassadeurs  de  France^  t.  vi.  Rome,  98-156  ;  Letters  of  Louis 
published  in  (Euvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  t.  v.  pp.  91, 110, 113, 165,  etc. 
The  treaty  signed  by  Alexander  is  found  in  Dumont's  Corps 
Diplomatique,  t.  vi.  part  3,  1-4.  An  account  of  the  apology 
tendered  by  Chigi  is  found  in  the  Gazette  for  1664.  The  terms 
of  the  apology  were  inserted  in  the  treaty,  that  there  might  be  no 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV,  47 

effect  in  Europe,  and  France  and  her  king  excited 
alike  admiration  and  fear.  Besides  these  victories, 
which  added  to  Louis's  prestige,  he  achieved  more 
substantial  successes,  which  increased  the  territory  o£ 
France.  Dunkirk,  situated  on  the  Straits  of  Dover, 
was  hardly  less  important  than  Calais,  either  as  a  port 
for  commerce  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  or  as  a  cen- 
tre of  operations  for  a  hostile  power.  Cromwell  had 
obtained  Dunkirk  for  England,  as  a  condition  of  the 
help  he  gave  Mazarin  against  Spain.  Its  possession 
gratified  English  pride,  and  was  of  value  in  case  of  a 
war  with  France.  But  England  was  now  ruled  by  an 
inglorious  instead  of  by  an  heroic  master.  Louis 
wished  to  secure  Dunkirk,  and  Charles  II.  was  as 
anxious  to  sell  his  cities  to  the  French  king  as  he  was 
to  sell  himself.  The  bargain  was  closed  in  1662  at 
6,000,000  livres,  and  for  this  sum  the  king  sold  what 
the  Protector  had  won.  The  transaction  excited  just 
indignation  in  England,  and  just  congratulation  in 
France.  Dunkirk  was  at  once  strongly  fortified,  and 
has  ever  since  remained  a  French  city.^ 

Another  transaction  revealed  a  different  phase  of 
Louis's  character.  By  the  treaty  of  the  Pyrenees,  he 
had  agreed  to  give  no  further  assistance  to  Portugal. 
Now,  as  during  all  his  life,  he  showed  that  he  did  not 
regard  himself  as  bound  by  treaties.  He  stated  his 
views  with  perfect  frankness.     France  and  Spain  were 

evasion.  Histoires  des  demeles  de  ta  cour  de  France  avec  la  cour 
de  Rome,  written  by  Desmarais,  a  secretary  of  Cr^qui,  and 
Chantelauze's  Le  Cardinal  de  Retz  et  ses  Missions,  contain  most 
of  the  official  documents  of  importance  on  the  history  of  this 
imbroglio. 

1  The  results  of  the  negotiations  as  to  the  purchase  of  Dun- 
kirk are  fairly  enough  stated  in  CEuvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  i.  167- 
178.    The  treaty  is  in  Dumont,  Corps  Dip.,  vi.  part  2,  432. 


48  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

natural  enemies ;  treaties  between  them  were  of  neces- 
sity temporary:  secret  infractions  were  expected  on 
both  sides,  and  a  violation  of  their  terms  was  really  no 
breach  of  good  faith ;  like  the  compliments  of  society, 
these  were  required,  but  not  believed.^  Accordingly 
he  secretly  furnished  assistance  to  the  Portuguese,  and, 
that  they  might  obtain  an  ally  in  England,  he  took 
an  active  part  in  the  negotiations  which  resulted  in 
the  marriage  of  Charles  II.  with  Catharine  of  Por- 
tugal. 

The  strength  of  the  government  was  shown  also  in 
the  repression  of  internal  disorders.  In  many  of  the 
remote  districts  of  France,  violences  were  frequent,  and 
were  committed  with  impunity.  Lawlessness  was 
deemed  the  proof  of  gentle  birth,  of  a  blood  that 
scorned  restraint,  and  offenders  of  rank  defied  the  au- 
thority of  the  courts.  Special  tribunals  were  now 
organized,  vested  with  an  unlimited  authority  for  the 
restoration  of  good  order,  and  they  proceeded  with  a 
vigor  that  terrified  the  unruly.  The  charges  against 
some  of  the  offenders  illustrate  the  relics  of  feudal 
life  that  still  existed  in  the  France  of  Louis  XIV. 
The  Marquis  of  Canillac,  the  head  of  an  illustrious 
family,  which  had  given  two  Popes  to  the  church,  had 
during  a  long  life  led  a  career  of  unchecked  license  in 
Auvergne.  His  subjects  not  only  paid  the  royal  taille, 
but  an  additional  one  to  Monsieur  the  Marquis,  to 
Madame  his  wife,  and  to  each  of  his  children.  From 
the  abuse  of  his  judicial  authority  over  his  subjects 

1  (Euvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  i.  63-65  :  "  Distinctions  sur  la  foi  des 
trait^s."  These  so-called  works  of  Louis  XIV.  were  not  all  writ- 
ten by  him,  but  they  were  prepared  under  his  dictation,  and  ex- 
press his  views  with  absolute  accuracy.  Any  doubts  as  to  their 
authenticity  have  long  been  removed. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  49 

his  chief  revenues  were  obtained,  and  the  peasants 
paid  dearly  for  remission  from  imaginary  crimes.  A 
dozen  ruffians,  who  acted  as  his  henchmen,  were  known 
in  all  the  country  as  the  Twelve  Apostles.  Their  cate- 
chism was  the  sword. ^ 

Another  nobleman  had  taken  a  recalcitrant  offender, 
and  for  several  months  kept  him  confined  in  a  damp 
closet,  where  he  could  neither  sit  nor  stand.^  Such 
cases  certainly  were  exceptional,  but  the  authority  ex- 
ercised by  the  strong  over  the  weak  was  large,  and 
was  correspondingly  liable  to  abuse. 

Innumerable  relics  of  the  feudal  system  could  still 
be  found  in  every  province  of  France.  Even  serfdom 
was  not  entirely  extinct.  The  magistrates  sent  to 
Auvergne  heard  the  demand  of  certain  serfs  of  the 
monks  of  St.  Augustine  to  be  declared  free  because 
born  of  free  fathers,  but  they  declined  to  render  a 
decision.  It  was  not  until  a  century  later  that  serf- 
dom was  entirely  abolished  in  France.^ 

^  Les  Grands  Jours  d^ Auvergne,  261. 

2  lb.,  224. 

8  Les  Grands  Jours  d  'Auvergne,  by  Fldchier,  gives  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  special  court  sent  into  Auvergne.  The  coming  of 
this  body  excited  such  terror  among  the  disorderly  nobility  that 
many  of  them  fled,  and  were  condemned  by  default.  The  peas- 
antry were  correspondingly  excited,  and  in  their  gross  igno- 
rance supposed  that  lands  which  they  had  sold  would  be  restored 
to  them,  and  the  seigneurs  would  be  at  their  mercy.  One  of  the 
popular  songs  wi'itten  to  welcome  the  Grands  Jours  may  show 
those  curious  in  such  matters  the  difference  between  the  patois 
then  used  in  that  district  and  the  ordinary  French  :  — 

Vez  Clainnou  ou  I'y  o  A  Clermont  il  y  a 

Quanquas  gens  de  roba  Quelques  gens  de  robe, 

Que  font,  dins  que  lie  Qui  font  dans  ce  lieu 

Mou6  qu'on  ne  soulio.  Mieux  qu'on  n'avait  coutume. 

Another  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  court  is  given  in 


50  FRANCE   UND^R    THE  REGENCY. 

While  the  power  of  the  government  was  asserted 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  Louis  also  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  world  by  a  magnificence  hitherto  un- 
known, and  by  a  succession  of  fetes  of  unexampled 
splendor.  The  carroussel  of  1662,  which  has  left  its 
name  to  the  court  of  the  Louvre  in  which  it  was  held, 
was  the  first  of  the  gorgeous  spectacles  by  which 
Louis  gratified  his  love  for  display,  excited  the  admi- 
ration of  his  contemporaries,  and  depleted  the  pockets 
of  his  courtiers.  Five  companies,  representing  differ- 
ent nations,  commanded  by  the  king  and  by  princes 
of  the  blood,  jousted  for  the  reward  of  honor  or  of 
smiles.  The  costumes  of  the  riders,  and  all  the  acces- 
sories of  the  fete,  were  costly  and  magnificent.  The 
device  of  the  sun  was  selected  by  Louis  for  himself. 
So  pompous  an  emblem  gratified  the  vanity  of  a  king 
who  felt  that  his  relations  to  his  fellows  were  like 
those  of  the  sun  to  the  solar  system. 

The  court  life  of  Prance  was  never  so  brilliant  as  dur- 
ing the  early  manhood  of  Louis  XIV.  Manners  were 
courteous,  bearing  was  dignified,  and  conversation  was 
entertaining.  The  gloomy  piety  of  later  years  had 
not  yet  thrown  its  cloud  over  the  pleasures  of  life. 
The  moral  atmosphere  was  perhaps  little  purer  than 
under  Louis  XV.,  but  there  was  less  grossness.  Louis 
XIV.  was  not  a  moral  man,  but  he  was  not  a  vulgar 
man.  He  had  already  begun  the  career  of  gallantry 
which  he  followed  without  intermission  until  Mme.  de 
Maintenon  led  him  back  to  the  paths  of  virtue.  His 
favorite  was  now  Mile.  La  Valliere,  a  young  maid  of 

Journal  de  Dongois  MSS.  Other  reports  on  the  disorders  prev- 
alent in  many  parts  of  France  are  found  in  Rapport  au  Roi  sur 
Tourdine  ;  lb.  sur  Poitou  ;  Lettres,  etc.,  de  Colbert ;  Correspond 
dance  administrative  sous  Louis  XIV.,  passim. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  51 

honor,  beautiful,  but  not  brilliant,  who  has  gained  a 
somewhat  unique  reputation  as  being  one  of  the  few 
women  in  French  history  who  have  felt  any  shame  in 
being  known  as  the  mistress  of  a  king.  The  monarch 
also  made  some  efforts  at  concealment.  Louis  had 
not  yet  reached  the  condition  of  imperial  indifference 
when  he  took  pride  in  displaying  his  harem  to  all 
Europe. 

Under  the  influence  of  Colbert's  reforms,  the  condi- 
tion of  France  was  rapidly  improving.  Louis  had  a 
preeminent  position  abroad,  and  it  would  have  been 
possible  to  have  added  considerably  to  the  territory  of 
France,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  increased  her 
internal  wealth.  The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  might 
have  been  one  of  happiness  and  prosperity.  But  the 
young  king  was  devoured  by  a  desire  for  war.  He 
thirsted  for  military  glory ;  possessing  the  abilities 
of  a  Philip  II.,  he  had  the  restless  ambition  of  a  Na- 
poleon. No  great  conqueror  has  wasted  human  life, 
or  ruined  his  own  states  to  gratify  a  lust  for  victory, 
with  more  unconcern  than  this  king,  who  did  not 
know  enough  to  fight  a  battle.  The  wars  of  Louis 
Xiy.  were  soon  to  begin,  and  for  the  most  of  fifty 
years  they  kept  Europe  in  commotion  and  France  in 
misery. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WARS  WITH   SPAIN   AND   HOLLAND. 

1667-1679. 

The  cause,  or  at  least  the  pretext,  for  the  early 
wars  of  Louis  was  found  in  the  rights  he  claimed  by 
virtue  of  his  wife  over  some  of  the  possessions  of 
Spain.  The  territories  which  still  acknowledged  alle- 
giance to  Spain  were  as  scattered  and  defenseless  as 
they  were  numerous.  The  great  province  of  Franche 
Comte  was  nominally  subject  to  the  Spanish  king.  It 
was  rich,  fertile,  and  populous.  It  was  adjacent  to 
Burgundy,  and  could  be  seized  by  the  French  armies, 
almost  without  resistance.  The  Low  Countries,  which 
had  remained  under  Spanish  control  when  their  sister 
states  obtained  their  liberty,  were  a  still  more  tempt- 
ing prize.  They  contained  many  great  cities ;  their 
skilled  artisans  were  not  excelled  by  those  in  any 
other  part  of  Europe ;  relieved  from  the  incubus  of 
Spanish  misrule,  they  might  rival  Holland  in  trade, 
they  might  render  France  as  great  a  commercial  as 
she  was  a  military  power.  It  seemed  an  easy  task  for 
Louis  to  wrest  a  large  portion  of  them  from  the  tot- 
tering power  of  Spain  ;  unless  checked  by  a  coalition 
of  the  European  states,  he  might  even  hope  to  annex 
to  France  all  of  the  territories  which  now  form  the 
kingdom  of  Belgium.  The  claims  of  Louis  upon  the 
Spanish  succession  constituted  the  great  political 
question  during  the  whole  of  his  personal  administra- 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         63 

tion.  He  began  to  assert  his  rights  immediately  after 
his  marriage,  and  they  were  not  finally  settled  until 
shortly  before  his  death. 

The  Spanish  kings  had  decayed  with  the  empire 
which  they  governed.  Vigor  of  body  failed,  as  did 
vigor  of  mind,  and  it  was  long  apparent  that  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  direct  line  of  Charles  V.  was  probable. 
The  laws  of  Spain,  unlike  those  of  France,  did  not 
exclude  women  from  the  throne.  Sons  were  preferred 
in  the  succession,  but  in  the  failure  of  a  son,  the  crown 
passed  to  a  daughter.  It  was  largely  by  marriages 
and  female  succession  that  Spain  had  been  consoli- 
dated into  one  kingdom,  and  by  virtue  of  the  same 
law  it  now  became  possible  that  a  foreigner  might  be 
called  to  the  Spanish  throne. 

In  1621,  Philip  IV.  became  king  of  Spain.  He 
married  a  sister  of  Louis  XHI.  of  France,  and  had 
several  children,  all  of  whom  died  young,  save  one, 
Maria  Theresa,  who  in  1660  was  married  to  her  cousin 
Louis  XIV.  Philip's  first  wife  died,  and  he  then 
married  an  Austrian  princess.  By  her  he  had  five 
children,  but  they  all  died  in  infancy  except  the  son, 
who  became  Charles  II.,  and  a  daughter  who  was 
married  to  the  Emperor  Leopold.  Maria  Theresa  was 
the  only  surviving  child  of  Philip's  first  marriage ; 
her  father  was  old  and  feeble,  and  after  his  death  only 
the  life  of  an  infant  brother,  the  sickly  child  of  infirm 
parents,  was  between  her  and  the  Spanish  throne. 
The  possibility  that  Maria  Theresa  might  become  the 
heiress  of  this  great  though  enfeebled  empire,  and 
that  France  and  Spain  might  be  united  under  the 
rule  of  her  posterity,  had  been  considered  during  the 
negotiations  for  the  peace  of  the  Pyrenees.  In  such 
a  case  the  Spanish  felt  that  their  own  country  would 
be  absorbed  by  the  more  powerful  monarchy,  and  to 


54  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

guard  against  this  evil  they  had  insisted  that  Maria 
Theresa  should  renounce  any  claim  upon  the  succes- 
sion to  which  she  might  become  entitled,  and  that 
Louis  should  join  in  this  renunciation.  Only  upon 
these  terms  would  Philip  consent  that  his  daughter 
should  become  the  bride  of  the  French  king.-  Articles 
were  accordingly  drawn,  by  which,  with  all  possible 
formalities,  and  with  the  greatest  copiousness  of  dip- 
lomatic verbiage,  she  renounced,  for  herself  and  for 
her  posterity,  any  claim  upon  the  Spanish  throne,  or 
upon  any  portion  of  the  inheritance  which  might  fall 
to  her.  Louis  swore  upon  the  cross  and  the  holy  Gos- 
pels that  he  would  respect"  and  observe  this  renuncia- 
tion of  his  wife.  But  the  contract  for  her  marriage 
provided  also  that  Maria  Theresa  should  receive  as 
dowry  500,000  crowns,  and  Lionne  had  drawn  the 
fourth  article  as  follows :  "  In  consideration  of  the 
payment  of  the  said  500,000  crowns,  according  to  the 
terms  above  expressed,"  Maria  Theresa  waived  her 
rights  as  a  possible  heir.^  The  Spanish  plenipoten- 
tiaries objected  to  this  wording,  but  Lionne  told  them 
that  they  need  only  pay  the  money,  and  it  could  do 
them  no  harm.     The  renunciation  which  Maria  The- 

1  Articles  4-6,  Contrat  de  manage,  Traite  des  Pyrenees^  art. 
33.  Renunciation  signed  June  2,  1660,  Corps  Dip.,  vi.  part  2, 
288. 

'*  Que  moyennant  le  payement  effectif  fait  k  sa  majesty  trfes 
chr^tienne  des  dits  500,000  dcus  d'or  sol,  ou  leur  juste  valeur 
aux  termes  qu'il  a  dte  ci-devant  dit,  la  dite  sdr^nissime  infante 
se  tiendra  pour  contente  et  se  contentera  du  susdit  dot,  sans," 
etc.,  etc.  —  Negociations  relatives  a  la  succession  d^Espagne,  t.  i. 
52.  In  this  great  work,  M.  Mignet  has  published  the  most 
important  diplomatic  papers  of  the  French  government  during 
a  period  of  almost  twenty  years.  —  France  under  Richelieu  and 
Mazarin,  ii.  318-334. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND,        55 

resa  signed,  and  which  Louis  swore  that  he  would  ob- 
serve, said  nothing  about  the  dowry.  It  was,  how- 
ever, executed  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of 
the  original  marriage  contract,  and  the  two  documents 
might  properly  be  construed  together.  The  Spanish 
never  paid  a  sou  of  the  500,000  crowns  thus  agreed 
upon  for  a  dowry.  It  illustrated  the  apathy  and 
deadly  torpor  that  had  settled  upon  Spain,  that  a  pro- 
vision so  important  should  have  been  utterly  neglected. 
But  money  was  always  lacking  in  a  kingdom  from 
which  industry  and  intelligence  had  fled,  and  where 
indolence  waited  for  the  gold  of  Western  possessions 
to  satisfy  its  needs.  The  French  were  not  solicitous 
for  payment;  they  preferred  the  pretext  which  this 
neglect  of  payment  gave  their  claims,  to  a  sum  of 
money  that  was  insignificant  to  a  king  as  powerful 
as  Louis. 

While  diplomats  were  drawing  protests  and  renun- 
ciations, and  Louis  was  swearing  upon  the  Gospels 
that  they  should  be  observed,  neither  he  nor  any  of 
his  ministers  for  one  moment  entertained  the  thought 
of  respecting  them.  Fourteen  years  before,  when 
Mazarin  had  first  suggested  the  plan  of  a  marriage 
between  Louis  and  the  Infanta,  he  had  written  that 
France  could  claim  the  possessions  of  Spain  in  her 
right,  no  matter  what  renunciation  was  given.^  Dur- 
ing the  negotiations  for  the  peace  of  the  Pyrenees, 
the  Spanish  minister  himself  admitted  that,  should 
Maria  Theresa  become  heiress  to  the  Spanish  crown, 
he  might  hope  that  France  would  respect  the  renun- 
ciation, but  he  did  not  expect  it.^ 

^  Letter  of  Mazarin  to  plenipotentiaries  at  Miinster,  January 
20, 1646. 

2  Mazarin  to  Le  Tellier,  August  23,  1659. 


56  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

In  1661,  Maria  Theresa  gave  birth  to  a  son.  Her 
father,  Philip  IV.,  was  still  living,  but  the  French 
ambassador  at  Madrid  began  cautiously  to  suggest 
the  rights  that  Louis  might  assert  in  behalf  of  his 
wife  and  his  child.  While  claiming  that  the  renun- 
ciation was  invalid,  he  endeavored  to  obtain  from 
Spain  a  formal  rescission  of  it.  If  that  could  be 
given,  Louis  offered  his  aid  for  the  subjugation  of 
Portugal,  which  was  still  engaged  in  its  long  war  for 
liberation.^  Philip  gave  little  heed  to  the  counsels 
of  wisdom,  but  he  sought  eagerly  for  those  of  re- 
ligion. He  now  advised  with  the  Inquisitor-General, 
as  well  as  with  doctors  learned  in  the  law,  and  they 
decided  that  the  renunciation  was  valid,  and  must  not 
be  abrogated.^ 

In  truth,  Philip  was  little  inclined  to  comply  with 
the  request  of  the  French  minister  ;  he  wasted  no 
love  upon  his  son-in-law,  whose  overbearing  conduct 
constantly  outraged  him  and  offended  the  pride  of  his 
subjects.  In  the  mean  time  Philip's  only  son  lay  at 
death's  door.  The  body  of  Saint  Diego  was  taken 
from  its  resting-place  and  carried  to  the  chamber  of 
the  sick  child.  He  seemed  better,  and  the  court  and 
king  declared  that  a  miracle  had  been  wrought.^  But 
more  than  dead  saints  was  needed  to  give  vigor  to 
Spain  and  her  sickly  princes :  six  days  later  the  In- 
fante was  dead.  Shortly  afterwards  the  queen  gave 
birth  to  another  son,  but  he  was  so  infirm  that  his 
death  was  constantly  expected.     Feeble  and  diseased 

^  Letters  of  Louis  to  Embrun,  January  1  and  February  14, 
1662. 

2  Dispatch  of  the  Archbishop  of  Embrun,  French  ambassa- 
dor at  Madrid,  to  Louis  XIV.,  May  4,  1662. 

*  Dispatch  of  the  Archbishop  of  Embrun,  October  26,  1661. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         57 

as  the  child  was,  he  was  to  become  Charles  II.  of 
Spain,  to  lead  a  miserable  existence  for  nearly  forty 
years,  and  to  postpone  for  a  generation  the  great 
question  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

While  Charles  lived,  Spain  appeared  to  be  safe 
from  French  aggression  on  any  plea  of  the  rights  of 
Maria  Theresa.  Even  if  no  renunciation  had  been 
given,  a  daughter  could  demand  nothing  so  long  as 
there  was  a  son  to  receive  and  possess  the  heritage. 
Louis  now  advanced  claims  of  a  novel  character, 
which  could  be  enforced  immediately  on  the  death  of 
Philip  IV.  Ingenious  jurists  were  employed  to  devise 
theories  by  which  France  could  assert  rights  over  a 
large  portion  of  Europe,  and  one  of  them  unearthed 
an  ancient  custom  which  prevailed  in  Brabant  and  in 
several  provinces  of  the  Low  Countries.  By  this,  the 
children  of  the  first  marriage  succeeded  to  the  paternal 
inheritance,  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  those  of  a  second 
union. 

Maria  Theresa  was  the  only  surviving  child  of 
Philip's  first  marriage,  and  on  her  father's  death, 
therefore,  these  provinces,  as  it  was  claimed,  became 
hers,  to  the  exclusion  of  her  half-brother.  It  was  easy 
to  reply  that  this  custom  was  one  which  prevailed  only 
among  private  individuals ;  that  it  regulated  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  artisan's  tools  or  the  merchant's 
wares  should  be  distributed,  and  had  no  application 
to  the  supreme  authority  in  the  state ;  that,  in  the 
history  of  all  the  various  houses  by  which  these  prov- 
inces had  been  ruled,  no  trace  could  be  found  of  a 
law  of  succession  which  was  unknown  to  the  politics 
of  Europe.  If  the  French  had  the  worse  of  the  argu- 
ment, they  had  much  the  better  of  the  situation.  The 
Spanish  declared  that  Louis  relied  on  his  armies  for 


58  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

reasons  and  on  his  cannon  for  persuasion,  and  he  was 
content  to  be  thus  provided.^ 

In  September,  1665,  Philip  IV.  died.  His  long 
reign  of  over  forty  years  had  been  a  series  of  misfor- 
tunes, and  the  dismemberment  of  the  Spanish  empire 
had  gone  on  apace.  "  God  grant  that  you  may  be 
more  fortunate  than  I,"  he  said,  as  he  lay  dying,  to 
the  child  who  was  to  succeed  to  the  throne.  His  final 
wish  was  not  to  be  fulfilled.  The  last  male  heir  of 
Charles  V.,  with  a  diseased  body  and  an  infirm  mind, 
was  to  have  only  misery  for  his  lot. 

Charles  II.  was  four  years  old  when  he  became  king 
of  Spain.  He  was  still  too  weak  to  stand,  and  it  was 
long  before  he  was  able  to  speak.  He  had  neither 
teeth  nor  hair,  he  could  not  hold  his  head  erect.  His 
tottering  limbs,  his  expressionless  face,  his  deformed 
jaw  and  lolling  tongue,  gave  no  hope  for  future  vigor, 
either  mental  or  physical.  The  foreign  ambassadors 
were  solemnly  presented  to  this  infirm  representative 
of  royalty.  The  king  was  held  in  his  chair  by  a  nurse, 
while  the  ministers  offered  their  congratulations.^ 

By  Philip's  will,  he  had  declared  his  younger  daugh- 
ter, wife  of  the  Emperor  Leopold,  the  heiress  to  the 
throne,  should  Charles  die  without  issue ;  he  had  di- 
rected that  none  of  the  possessions  of  Spain  should 
be  alienated,  and  he  had  appointed  his  wife,  Marie 
Anne  of  Austria,  as  regent.^  She  was  a  woman  of 
little  ability,  but  obstinate  in  her  preference  for  the 

1  "  Apr^s  tout,  ce  ne  sera  pas  le  plus  ou  le  moins  d'^critures 
qui  ddcidera  cette  affaire,"  Louis  wrote  his  ambassador  in  Spain. 
—  King  to  Embrun,  October  20,  1665. 

2  Embrun  to  Lionne,  November  5,  1665  ;  lb.  to  Louis,  July 
17,  1664. 

3  Mignet,  Negociations  relatives  a  la  succession  d^Espagne,  L 
382-386. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         59 

Austrian  house  to  which  she  belonged.  The  reins  of 
government,  as  so  often  happened  when  a  sovereign 
was  weak  in  intelligence  but  zealous  in  religion,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  priest  to  whom  her  spiritual 
welfare  was  intrusted.  The  regent's  confessor  was  a 
German  Jesuit,  called  Father  Nithard.  He  was  soon 
made  Inquisitor-General,  and  was  actually  the  prime 
minister.  He  possessed  no  natural  capacity  that  might 
enlarge  the  contracted  views  of  priestcraft,  and  his  ad- 
ministration was  of  no  service  either  to  God  or  man. 

Louis  informed  the  regent  of  the  claims  of  his  wife 
upon  certain  parts  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  asked 
that  these  might  be  surrendered,  or  due  compensation 
be  made.  The  Spanish  were  weak  in  defense,  but 
they  were  strenuous  in  refusal.  The  regent  declared 
that  such  a  proposition  was  unheard  of  and  flagrantly 
unjust,  and  that  if  it  were  pressed  she  should  trust 
in  the  protection  of  God  to  defend  the  cause  of  her 
son.^  Unfortunately,  she  took  no  steps  to  provide  the 
threatened  provinces  with  any  other  means  of  resist- 
ance, and  Louis  proceeded,  though  with  great  deliber- 
ation, towards  the  enforcement  of  his  claims. 

A  war  had  broken  out  between  England  and  Hol- 
land, and  the  Dutch  demanded  aid  from  France,  ac- 
cording to  a  treaty  to  that  effect.  Louis  was  loath  to 
furnish  it,  but  he  did  so  at  last.  He  desired  the  friend- 
ship of  the  English  king,  and  he  knew  that  in  Charles 
H.  of  England  he  could  purchase  a  valuable  ally  at  a 
reasonable  price.  Though  the  two  nations  were  at  war, 
Charles  wrote  his  sister,  after  a  naval  battle,  where  the 
English  with  little  reason  claimed  a  victory :  "  This 
great  success  does  not  at  all  change  my  inclinations 

1  Queen  of  Spain  to  Marquis  de  la  Fuente,  September  19, 
1665. 


60  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

towards  France,  which  you  may  assure  the  king  my 
brother  from  me,  and  that  it  shall  be  his  fault  if  we 
are  not  very  good  friends."  ^  Louis  used  every  effort 
to  restore  peace  between  the  belligerents,  and  early 
in  1667  he  obtained  from  Charles  a  promise  that  for 
a  year  he  would  make  no  alliance  contrary  to  the 
interests  of  France.^  Louis  was  thus  assured  that 
England  would  not  interfere  if  he  should  invade  the 
Low  Countries.  In  the  mean  time,  with  the  sagacity 
that  characterized  all  their  diplomatic  relations  while 
Lionne  had  charge  of  them,  the  French  had  still  fur- 
ther isolated  Spain  and  Flanders  from  aid  from  any 
quarter.  A  treaty  was  made  with  Portugal.  By  the 
League  of  the  Rhine,  and  by  the  liberal  expenditure 
of  money  in  buying  both  princes  and  ministers,  to 
which  the  diplomatic  successes  of  the  French  at  this 
period  were  largely  due,  Louis  long  exercised  over  a 
large  part  of  Germany  a  greater  influence  than  the 
Emperor.^  The  princes  whose  dominions  were  near 
the  Rhine  agreed  that  they  would  not  allow  Austria 
to  send  troops  through  their  territories  to  assist  the 
Spanish  in  Flanders.* 

Louis's  army  was  now  in  readiness,  and  he  was  safe 
from  interference.  In  May,  1667,  a  lengthy  manifesto 
was  published,  in  which  the  rights  claimed  by  the 
French  king  were  stated  to  the  world.^  The  renun- 
ciation originally  signed  by  Maria  Theresa  was  void, 
it  was  alleged,  because  neither  the  laws  of  God  nor 

1  Charles  II.  to  Henrietta  of  England,  June  8,  1666. 

2  lb.  to  Queen  Mother,  April,  1667. 

8  "  The  German  princes  hold  that  the  German  faith  is  due  to 
him  who  pays  for  it,"  writes  Villeneuve  to  Colbert,  May,  1664. 

*  These  treaties  are  found  in  Mignet,  Negociations,  etc.,  il 
23-40. 

^  Traite  des  droits  de  la  Reine,  in  318  pages. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        61 

man  allowed  parents  to  abandon  their  children's  rights, 
and  it  would  be  monstrous  to  suppose  that  a  young 
princess,  ignorant  of  such  matters,  and  living  under 
the  authority  of  her  father,  could  deprive  her  children 
of  the  great  possessions  that  might  be  theirs.  Fur- 
thermore, the  dowry,  the  500,000  crowns,  which  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  the  consideration  for  this 
unrighteous  sacrifice,  had  never  been  paid,  and  there- 
fore the  instrument  had  become  null  and  void.  It 
was  for  this  reason  that  neither  Louis  nor  Maria 
Theresa  had  ratified  it  in  France  after  their  mar- 
riage, though  this  was  necessary  to  give  it  any  valid- 
ity, and  the  Spanish,  knowing  the  weakness  of  their 
position,  had  never  presumed  to  ask  for  such  a  rati- 
fication.^ As  the  renunciation  was  of  no  force,  the 
customs  of  Brabant  and  the  other  provinces  were 
then  set  forth,  by  which  the  French  queen  was  entitled 
to  those  territories,  to  the  exclusion  of  her  brother  by 
the  second  marriage.  It  was  not,  therefore,  said  the 
manifesto,  in  hostility  to  Spain  that  Louis  was  now  to 
enter  the  Low  Countries.  He  sought  no  war,  he  had 
no  desire  to  acquire  glory  by  feats  of  arms  ;  but  as  a 
just  and  pious  king  he  took  possession  in  behalf  of 
his  wife  and  of  his  son  of  the  inheritance  which  was 
theirs,  that  their  subjects  might  live  in  peace  and 
happiness  under  their  lawful  sovereigns.^ 

A  few  days  after  this  pronunciamento,  Louis  with 
an  army  of  50,000  men,  commanded  by  Turenne,  en- 
tered the  Spanish  Low  Countries.  They  were  prac- 
tically undefended ;  20,000  troops,  poorly  armed  and 
supplied,  could  offer  little  resistance  to  the  French 
army,  under  the   command   of  the   ablest   soldier  in 

^  Traite  des  droits  de  la  lieine,  73. 
a  Ih.,  1-4. 


62  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

Europe.  Charleroi,  Oudenarde,  Lille,  and  other  cities 
were  captured  after  brief  sieges.  The  operations 
hardly  deserved  the  name  of  a  war.  Louis  brought 
his  wife,  his  mistress,  and  his  courtiers  to  be  the  wit- 
nesses of  his  glory.  Magnificent  equipages,  horses 
gorgeously  caparisoned,  courtiers  brilliant  in  laces  and 
gold  trimmings,  ladies  arrayed  in  the  latest  fashions 
of  Paris,  visited  the  captured  cities.  The  splendor 
of  Solomon  and  the  grandeur  of  the  king  of  Persia, 
wrote  an  eyewitness,  could  not  be  compared  with  the 
pomp  that  surrounded  Louis  XIV.^  The  king  in- 
dulged himself  in  what  was  long  his  strongest  pas- 
sion, —  the  tranquil  siege  of  cities  that  were  sure  to 
surrender,  where  there  was  no  chance  of  failure  and 
no  risk  of  harm,  and  where  his  mistresses  and  his 
courtiers  could  be  in  constant  attendance  to  tell  him 
how  great  a  soldier  he  was. 

By  September  military  operations  ceased,  and  the 
king  returned  to  the  court.  As  in  most  campaigns 
at  this  period,  the  season  of  activity  was  short,  and 
the  results  were  proportionally  meagre.  The  insuffi- 
ciency of  supplies,  the  lack  of  effective  organization, 
and  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads,  to  some  extent 
made  this  unavoidable.  As  a  result,  wars  dragged 
along  through  years,  and  were  brought  to  a  close  more 
from  exhaustion  than  from  decisive  victories.  It  was 
not  until  after  1789  that  the  system  of  warfare  as 
well  as  of  society  was  revolutionized. 

The  invasion  of  the  Low  Countries  excited  wide- 
spread alarm  among  the  Dutch.  The  conquest  of  those 
provinces  would  bring  France  to  their  doors,  and  the 
French,  under  an  ambitious  king,  were  far  more  for- 
midable neighbors  than  the  Spaniards.  Peace  had 
1  Memoir es  de  Coligny. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         63 

been  made  between  England  and  Holland,  and  the 
Dutch  now  began  their  long  agitation  for  a  barrier 
between  them  and  France.  For  almost  a  century 
an  alliance  between  Holland  and  France  had  been 
among  the  political  maxims  of  both  countries.  The 
Dutch  had  been  aided  in  their  contest  with  Spain  by 
the  French.  France  could  justly  claim:  that  she  had 
given  succor  in  the  hour  of  need  to  an  infant  com- 
munity which  had  now  become  a  great  and  a  free 
state,  as  later  she  was  to  render  still  more  valuable 
assistance  to  American  colonists  in  their  war  for  in- 
dependence. The  interests  of  both  France  and  Hol- 
land had  largely  been  the  same  ;  both  had  been  united 
against  the  dangerous  power  of  Spain.  This  condition 
of  affairs  had  now  changed.  Spain  was  no  longer 
formidable,  while  the  borders  of  France  were  con- 
stantly approaching  more  closely  to  Holland.  Com- 
mercial complications,  also,  had  soured  the  good-will 
of  the  Dutch.  By  the  tariff  of  1667,  Colbert  had 
interfered  seriously  with  the  trade  between  the  two 
countries.  Cherishing  the  delusive  belief  that  the  way 
to  increase  the  wealth  of  France  was  to  diminish  that 
of  her  neighbors,  he  was  rendering  her  commercially 
odious,  as  Louvois  was  to  make  her  odious  politi- 
cally. 

The  Dutch  now  wished  Louis  to  declare  what  acces- 
sions would  satisfy  the  rights  which  he  asserted.  The 
demands  made  by  the  king,  considering  his  success 
and  the  helpless  condition  of  Spain,  were  moderate. 
He  agreed  to  forego  all  his  claims,  if  the  Spanish 
would  cede  the  territory  which  was  actually  in  posses- 
sion of  his  armies,  or  he  would  accept  Franche  Comte 
in  exchange.     With  some   modifications,  the  Dutch 


64  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

were  content  with  these  terms.^  Some  years  before, 
De  Witt  had  sought  to  reach  a  settlement  of  the  im- 
pending question  of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries,  and 
had  proposed  that  certain  portions  should  be  annexed 
to  France  and  Holland,  and  of  the  residue  a  republic 
should  be  formed,  which  should  be  guaranteed  against 
invasion  by  these  powers.  Such  has  very  nearly  been 
the  final  lot  of  these  provinces,  after  an  infinite  amount 
of  war  and  bloodshed.  To  this  arrangement  Louis 
was  willing  to  accede,  but  the  merchants  of  Amster- 
dam feared  that  such  a  project  might  again  open  Ant- 
werp to  foreign  commerce,  and  enable  her  to  share  in 
trade  of  which  they  wished  the  monopoly,  and  the 
negotiations  ended  in  smoke.^ 

The  proposal  that  was  now  made  needed  only  Spain's 
approval  to  bring  the  war  to  a  close,  but  the  Spanish 
were  always  unwilling  to  recognize  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  affairs.  Though  they  could  do  nothing  to  resist 
the  French,  they  still  hoped  that  aid  might  come  from 
some  quarter.  Louis  therefore  continued  his  prepara- 
tions for  renewed  hostilities  in  the  spring. 

In  January,  1668,  under  the  guidance  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Temple,  the  famous  Triple  Alliance  was  formed, 
by  which  England,  Holland,  and  Sweden  agreed  upon 
a  settlement  of  the  present  war,  which  was  to  be  en- 

1  Negociations  relatives  a  la  succession  d^Espagne,  t.  i.  part  2,» 
sec.  1  ;  t.  ii.,  part  4,  sec.  1  ;  Lettres  et  Negociations  d^Estrades. 
Some  cities  were  to  be  added  to  the  cession  of  Franche  Comt^, 
had  the  Spanish  elected  to  avail  themselves  of  this  alternative. 

2  Correspondance  de  Hollande,  67,  70  ;  Lettres  d^Estrades,  t. 
ii.  ;  Estrades  to  Louis,  March  30,  April  12,  May  31,  June  15, 
August  9,  October  11, 1663  ;  Louis  to  Estrades,  April  6,  June  15, 
July  13,  September  21,  1669,  etc. ;  Negociations  relatives  a  la  suc- 
cession d^Espagne^  i.  185-290.  These  negotiations  extended  over 
more  than  a  year. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         65 

forced  by  arms  if  necessary.  The  Triple  Alliance  has 
been  loudly  vaunted  as  having  checked  the  unright- 
eous ambition  of  Louis  XIV.  and  saved  Europe  from 
untold  ills.  Sir  William  Temple  on  this  occasion,  as 
all  during  life,  gained  a  reputation  for  much  greater 
wisdom  than  he  possessed.  The  acquisitions,  with  which 
the  treaty  of  the  Triple  Alliance  said  Louis  must  be 
content,  were  those  which  he  had  already  offered  to 
accept.^  The  only  result  of  the  alliance  was  that  the 
Spanish  lost  all  hope  of  obtaining  aid,  and  consented 
to  abandon  what  they  could  not  regain.  In  the  spring 
of  1668,  the  representatives  of  England  and  Holland 
met  at  St.  Germain,  and  there  agreed  with  Louis  that, 
unless  the  Spanish  forthwith  surrendered  the  terri- 
tory in  question,  they  would  join  arms  with  him  and 
compel  its  cession.^  The  pressure  thus  brought  to 
bear  overcame  even  Spanish  apathy,  and  in  May  the 
treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  signed.  Perhaps  from 
a  desire  to  spite  the  Dutch,  who  had  failed  to  come 
to  their  assistance,  the  Spanish  ceded  to  France  the 
territory  occupied  by  her  armies,  instead  of  exercis- 
ing the  option  by  which  they  could  abandon  Tranche 
Comte  and  preserve  the  Low  Countries  intact.^ 

The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  unsatisfactory  to 
most  of  Louis's  advisers,  and  throughout  these  negotia- 
tions he  certainly  showed  great  moderation  in  his  de- 
mands. The  French  armies  had  already  taken  posses- 
sion of  Franche  Comte.  Louis  had  100,000  soldiers 
ready  for  another  campaign.     Neither  Spain  nor  the 

1  This  is  what  Charles  II.  said  in  a  letter  he  wrote  Louis  apolo- 
gizing for  having  joined  the  Triple  Alliance.  —  Charles  to  Louis, 
February  3,  1668. 

2  Mignet,  Treaty  of  St,  Germain,  ii.  626,  630. 

2  Letters  of  Sir  William  Temple,  i.  330-333  ;  Lettres  d^Estrades, 
t.  V. 


66  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Triple  Alliance  could  have  prevented  the  conquest  of 
the  whole  of  the  Low  Countries,  if  the  war  had  been 
continued  with  vigor.  Louis  decided,  however,  to  abide 
by  the  terms  he  had  originally  offered,  and  upon  that 
basis  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  made.  It  added 
to  France  but  a  small  section  of  the  Spanish  Low 
Countries.^ 

In  the  mean  time  a  treaty  had  been  executed  be- 
tween France  and  Austria  which  might  well  have 
changed  the  face  of  Europe.  By  it,  those  countries 
decided  upon  the  distribution  to  be  made  of  the  Span- 
ish empire  in  the  event  of  Charles  dying  without 
issue.  Thirty  years  before  what  is  known  as  the  first 
partition  treaty,  Louis  and  the  Emperor  agreed  upon  a 
division,  which  would  have  been  carried  into  effect  had 
Charles  died  within  a  few  years,  as  there  was  every 
reason  to  expect.  It  would  have  added  so  greatly 
to  the  power  of  France,  and  to  her  capacity  for  indus- 
trial and  commercial  development,  that  Louis  XIV. 
might  well  have  claimed  the  lasting  gratitude  of  all 
patriotic  Frenchmen.  To  the  Emperor  was  conceded 
the  succession  of  the  Spanish  throne,  with  the  most  of 
its  foreign  dependencies.  Nominally  this  was  much, 
but  really  it  would  have  proved  as  unimportant  for  the 
interests  of  Austria  as  the  actual  rule  of  the  Bour- 
bons in  Spain  was  to  France.  In  return  for  this, 
Franche  Comte,  the  whole  of  the  present  kingdom  of 
Belgium,  and  a  large  amount  of  territory  in  the  North 
of  Spain  would  have  been  annexed  to  France,  and 

1  The  treaty  is  found  in  Dumont,  Corps  Dip.,  and  the  negotia- 
tions in  reference  to  it  in  Negociations  sur  la  succession  d^Espagne, 
t.ii.  482-647  ;  Letters  of  Sir  William  Temple,  \ol.  i  ;  Negociations 
d^Estrades,  t.  v.,  and  vi.  1667-68  ;  Lettres,  etc.,  entre  Dewitt  et  les 
Amhassadeurs,  t.  iv.  ;  (Euvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  ii.  360-372. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         67 

would  to-day  have  contained  a  population  of  over 
6,000,000  intelligent,  industrious,  and  prosperous 
French  people.^  Unfortunately  for  that  country,  it 
was  more  than  thirty  years  before  Charles  died,  and 
then  her  interests  were  sacrificed  to  make  a  king  of 
Louis's  grandson. 

Thus  far  in  his  career  the  policy  of  Louis  XIV. 
had  been  marked  by  a  just  regard  for  the  welfare  of 
his  kingdom ;  nor  is  it  open  to  the  reproach  so  often 
uttered,  that  it  consisted  in  the  unscrupulous  plun- 
der of  defenseless  provinces.  The  extension  of  the 
French  boundaries  overthrew  no  prosperous  commu- 
nities, it  violated  no  rights  which  could  be  regarded  as 
sacred.  In  our  own  day,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  have 
been  taken  from  France  without  a  protest  from  any 
one  except  those  affected.  Yet  their  inhabitants  were 
contented  members  of  a  nation  to  which  they  had 
long  belonged  ;  they  spoke  the  same  tongue,  they  en- 
joyed the  same  prosperity  ;  to  wrest  them  away  was 
as  violent  a  measure  as  if  Normandy  or  Touraine  had 
been  cut  out  of  the  country  of  which  they  form  a 
part.  Far  different  was  the  situation  of  the  territo- 
ries which,  during  the  seventeenth  century,  were  an- 
nexed to  France.  The  most  of  them  were  nominally 
under  the  rule  of  the  Spanish,  but  to  that  people  they 

1  This  treaty  and  the  steps  that  led  to  it  are  found  in  Nego- 
gociations  relatives  a  la  succession  d'' Espagne,  t.  ii.  323^82.  By 
its  terms,  Naples,  Sicily,  and  the  Philippine  Islands  were  also  to 
be  added  to  France.  The  possessions  in  Italy  would  have  been 
a  source  of  weakness  rather  than  of  strength.  The  correspon- 
dence in  reference  to  this  treaty  illustrates  the  superiority  of 
French  diplomacy  at  this  period.  It  shows  also  how,  when  other 
arguments  did  not  suffice,  Louis  reached  his  ends  by  bribing  the 
representatives  of  every  government,  no  matter  how  exalted 
their  rank. 


68  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

were  bound  by  no  ties  of  kith  or  kin ;  they  did  not 
speak  the  Spanish  tongue  ;  neither  in  customs,  nor  in- 
dustries, nor  manners,  had  they  anything  in  common 
with  Spain.  Accidents  of  birth  or  of  conquest  had 
rendered  them  subject  to  the  kings  who  filled  the 
Spanish  throne.  They  were  bound  together  in  dis- 
cordant and  unfruitful  union ;  they  were  subjected  to 
the  worst  of  governments,  the  unintelligent  rule  of 
strangers.  Their  industries  were  harassed,  their  trade 
was  checked  ;  they  were  ground  down  by  the  imposi- 
tions of  greedy  governors ;  they  were  exposed  to  the 
evils  of  apathetic  inefficiency.  The  rule  of  Spain  in 
her  provinces  combined  the  abuses  of  tyranny  and  the 
confusion  of  anarchy. 

Nor  was  the  condition  of  Lorraine  and  Alsace  any 
better.  The  rule  of  the  dukes  of  Lorraine  hardly 
deserved  the  name  of  a  government.  The  people  of 
that  unhappy  province  were  oppressed  in  time  of 
peace,  and  defenseless  in  time  of  war.^  The  varied 
and  complicated  rights  which  extended  over  Alsace 
furnished  its  inhabitants  neither  the  pride  which  may 
be  felt  in  a  great  state,  nor  the  peace  and  tranquillity 
which  can  sometimes  be  found  in  a  small  one.  In 
many  of  the  neighboring  districts,  French  was  the  or- 
dinary speech  of  the  people.  In  France  they  could 
find  their  best  markets,  with  her  people  they  would 
naturally  assimilate.  The  government  of  that  coun- 
try was  still  very  defective ;  the  condition  of  large 
portions  of  her  inhabitants  was  still  very  miserable, 
but  it  was   much  better  than  that  of   most   of   her 

1  The  reunion  of  Lorraine  to  France  was  not  completed  until 
the  eighteenth  century.  During  a  considerable  part  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  it  was,  however,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in 
the  possession  of  France. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         69 

neighbors.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  incorporation 
with  France  increased  the  prosperity,  the  happiness, 
and  the  future  development  of  every  town,  city,  or 
province  that  was  added  to  her  boundaries  during  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Unfortunately,  Louis's  attention  was  now  diverted 
from  territorial  aggrandizement,  for  which  some  justi- 
fication could  be  pleaded,  to  the  indulgence  of  a  petty 
spite  and  to  avenging  a  mortified  vanity.  The  Triple 
Alliance  had  been  excessively  disagreeable  to  his  pride. 
It  was  not  the  substance  of  the  treaty  to  which  he 
objected,  wrote  his  minister,  but  the  form  of  it  was 
distasteful.^  It  was  upon  Holland  that  his  wrath 
was  especially  directed.  He  had  assisted  the  States 
General  in  their  war  with  England.  He  had  agreed 
with  them  on  the  acquisitions  with  which  he  would 
be  satisfied.^  He  had  dealt  with  them,  as  he  felt, 
magnanimously,  and  in  return  for  this,  forgetting 
both  gratitude  and  good  manners,  they  had  induced 
England  and  Sweden  to  join  in  an  offensive  alliance. 
They  had  presumed  to  dictate  terms  to  him.  A 
little  republic  had  seen  fit  to  interfere  with  a  great 
king.  Their  ambassador  had  been  insolent  during 
the  negotiations.  It  was  charged  that  a  medal  had 
been  struck  in  Holland  representing  Joshua  bidding 
the  sun  to  stand  still,  and  symbolizing  the  Dutch 
minister  checking  the  progress  of  the  king,  who  had 
chosen  the  sun  for  his  device.^     "  The  origin  of  the 

^  Lionne  to  Estrades,  February  3,  1668  :  Letters  of  Temple,  i. 
148. 

2  Louis  to  Estrades,  October  14,  1667. 

s  M.  Van  Beuninghen,  the  offending  minister,  denied  that  any 
such  medal  was  ever  struck.  —  Pomponne  to  Louis  XIV.,  March 
2,  1669. 


70  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

present  war,"  wrote  Louis  in  1674,  "  may  be  charged 
to  the  ingratitude  and  the  insupportable  vanity  of  the 
Hollanders."  ^  His  courtiers  declared  that  it  was  not 
for  merchants  to  be  dictating  the  policy  of  kings  ; 
they  should  confine  themselves  to  their  shops  and  their 
bills  of  lading.  The  Dutch  were  in  Louis's  eyes  all 
that  was  most  odious  :  they  were  republicans,  they 
were  Protestants,  and  they  were  insolent.  Before  the 
peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  signed,  he  had  resolved 
that  he  would  chastise  them,  and  that  they  should  be 
compelled  to  submit  to  ignominious  terms.^  Indeed, 
both  Louis  and  his  ministers,  and  Charles  II.  as  well, 
contemplated  the  entire  destruction  of  the  republic, 
leaving  perhaps  some  mutilated  portions  of  it  under 
the  rule  of  Charles's  nephew,  William  of  Orange.^ 
During  four  years,  the  preparations  for  this  wicked 
undertaking  were  carried  on  with  the  greatest  ability 
and  foresight.  Then  the  storm  burst,  and  it  seemed 
that  the  ruin  of  Holland  was  inevitable.  Fortunately, 
Louis  and  Louvois  were  so  blinded  by  success  and 
by  arrogance  that  they  lost  their  opportunity.  After 
six  years  of  war,  the  Republic  emerged  unscathed 
from  the  greatest  peril  that  had  threatened  it  since 
the  armies  of  Alva  lay  encamped  before  the  walls  of 
Haarlem. 

The  first  step  of  the  French  was  to  draw  England 

1  Mem.  de  Louis  XIV.  sur  le  campagne  de  1672,  MSS.  D^pot 
de  la  Guerre,  published  by  Rousset. 

2  Memoire  cited  above,  and  all  the  diplomatic  correspondence 
of  this  period. 

8  Substantially  this  statement  of  their  purpose  is  found  in  in- 
numerable letters  and  instructions.  Negodations  d'Estrades,  i. 
394  ;  Projet  d'un  traite,  December  18,  1669  ;  Mem.  de  Louvois  a 
Conde,  November  1,  1671,  "  d'abaisser  les  HoUandois  et  de  les 
an^antir,  s'il  dtait  possible." 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         71 

from  the  Triple  Alliance.  This  was  not  a  difficult 
task.  Most  unwillingly  had  Charles  found  himself 
in  a  position  of  hostility  to  the  French.  Louis  XIV. 
was  to  Charles  II.  the  embodiment  of  earthly  great- 
ness and  human  felicity  ;  he  had  much  money  and 
many  mistresses,  and  he  was  not  bothered  with  a  Par- 
liament. On  the  other  hand,  the  English  king  had 
no  sympathy  with  the  Dutch.  They  had  not  befriended 
him  when  he  was  a  wanderer ;  they  encouraged  indus- 
try and  respected  virtue.  Charles  told  the  French 
minister  that  he  wished  to  treat  with  Louis  as  one 
gentleman  with  another,  and  on  this  basis  of  easy 
courtesy  he  proceeded  to  sell  himself  and  his  people.^ 
He  gladly  consented  to  annul  the  Triple  Alliance,  and 
to  unite  England  with  France  for  the  destruction  of 
a  Protestant  republic.^  But  Charles  was  timid,  and 
fickle,  and  greedy,  and  it  was  long  before  he  would 
actually  sign  a  satisfactory  agreement.  Though  he 
cared  little  for  religion,  he  had  a  taste  for  consulting 
signs  and  soothsayers.  Louis,  therefore,  sent  over  an 
abbe,  who  had  a  great  reputation  in  astrology,  in  the 
hope  that,  if  his  ally  was  indifferent  to  the  opinion  of 
his  people,  he  might  incline  to  the  judgment  of  the 
stars.  Unluckily,  the  astrologer  attempted  that  most 
perilous  form  of  prophecy,  foretelling  the  result  of  a 
horse  race.  The  king's  son,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth, 
laid  great  sums  on  the  horses  that  were  designated  by 
the  abbe's  horoscope,  and  lost  all  that  he  wagered. 

1  Ruvigny  to  Louis,  May  21,  1668. 

2  "  Et  d'autant  que  la  dissolution  du  gouvernment  des  Etats 
G^ndraux,  qui  est  la  fin  principale  qu'on  se  propose  dans  cette 
guerre,*'  etc.  —  Form  of  treaty  proposed  by  Charles,  Corres. 
<r Angleterre,  85. 


72  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  unfortunate  prophet  was  hastily  ordered  back  to 
France.^ 

Other  negotiators  were  more  successful,  and  in  1670 
treaties  were  signed  by  which  Charles  undertook  to 
assist  Louis  in  the  projected  war  against  Holland, 
on  receiving  a  liberal  subsidy.  By  secret  articles,  he 
also  promised  that  he  would  declare  himself  a  Catho- 
lic ;  and  for  this  act  of  piety  Louis  paid  him  150,000 
pounds  sterling,  and  agreed  to  furnish  6,000  French 
soldiers  to  repress  any  resistance  of  the  English  when 
the  apostasy  of  their  king  should  be  publicly  declared. ^ 

Having  thus  obtained  from  Charles  the  most  dis- 
graceful treaty  that  can  be  found  in  English  history, 
Louis  turned  his  attention  to  Germany.  There  he 
met  with  little  trouble.  In  November,  1671,  the 
Emperor  promised  to  remain  neutral  while  France 
attacked  the  States  General.  Sweden  abandoned  the 
Triple  Alliance  for  a  subsidy.  The  smaller  German 
states  were  still  more  easily  managed.  Those  of  any 
importance  agreed,  in  consideration  of  various  sums  of 
money,  that  Holland  should  receive  no  aid  in  her  hour 
of  need.  Louvois  grumbled  that  he  had  to  waste  a  day 
because  the  bishops  of  Miinster  and  of  Strasbourg  got 
so  drunk  overnight  celebrating  the  situation  that  they 
could  do  no  business.^     These   episcopal  authorities 

1  Lionne  to  Colbert  de  Croissy,  February  23,  1669  ;  Colbert 
to  Lionne,  March  18,  1669  ;  Charles  to  Henrietta,  March  22, 
1669  ;  Lionne  to  Colbert,  May  4,  1669. 

2  The  two  treaties,  one  signed  at  Dover  on  June  1  [N.  S.], 
1670,  and  the  other  in  December,  are  found  in  Neg.  rel.  a  la 
succession  cfEspagne,  t.  ii.  part  4,  sec.  1.  The  treaty  provided  for 
the  payment  of  2,000,000  livres  tournois  for  the  conversion, 
which  represented  about  150,000  pounds.  —  Colbert  to  Louis 
XIV.,  December  30,  1669,  et  passim. 

^  Louvois  to  Le  Tellier,  January  4,  1672. 


WARS  WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         73 

were  trying  to  the  diplomats.  Strasbourg's  passions 
were  lucre  and  liquor.  "-  Every  time  the  Bishop  of 
Strasbourg  has  anything  to  pay,"  wrote  Luxembourg, 
"  he  offers  up  prayers  for  peace,  and  every  time  he 
takes  a  drink  he  is  eager  for  war."  ^  The  Bishop  of 
Miinster  was  a  more  belligerent  character,  and  his  ca- 
reer was  not  unlike  that  of  some  robber  baron  of  an 
earlier  age.  At  his  court  the  soldier  of  fortune,  the 
cutthroat,  and  the  desperado  were  always  welcome. 
His  life  was  occupied  in  constant  brawls,  and  in  petty 
warfare  with  his  neighbors.  The  revenues  which  were 
exacted  as  the  dues  of  the  church  were  spent  either 
in  drink  and  debauchery,  or  in  the  support  of  lawless 
soldiers,  who  eked  out  their  pay  by  plunder.  The 
Christian  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  under  Turkish 
misrule  suffer  less  to-day  from  their  governors  than  did 
the  subjects  of  many  of  the  petty  states  of  Germany, 
of  which  the  Bishopric  of  Miinster  was  an  extreme 
type.  At  last  the  bishops  were  sobered  and  paid,  and 
they  signed  their  treaties  with  France. 

While  Holland  was  thus  isolated  by  an  adroit  diplo- 
macy, the  French  armies  were  reorganized  and  pre- 
pared for  war  by  the  genius  of  Louvois.  Louvois  was 
a  man  of  only  thirty,  but  he  had  already  acquired  an 
influence  over  Louis  greater  than  that  of  any  other  of 
his  advisers,  and  which  for  many  years  was  to  prove 
disastrous  to  the  best  interests  of  France.  His  power 
over  his  master  was  due  to  talents  of  a  high  order.  As 
a  war  minister  he  has  had  few  equals.  He  was  not 
one  of  the  ordinary  class  of  administrators  who  are 
content  to  follow  in  the  traditions  of  their  predeces- 
sors. To  his  innovations  it  was  due  that  for  fifty  years 
the  French  armies  were  superior  to  those  of  any  other 
1  Luxembourg  to  Louvois,  January  31,  1672. 


74  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

European  state.  No  man  understood  better  than  he 
that,  to  fight  well,  a  soldier  must  feed  well.  He  estab- 
lished magazines  of  provisions ;  he  saw  that  the  bag- 
gage wagons  were  sufficiently  numerous,  that  the  guns 
were  in  good  order,  and  that  there  was  plenty  of  am- 
munition. Under  his  iron  rule,  the  frauds  of  officers 
who  kept  in  their  command  fifty  barefooted  and  half- 
starved  men,  and  drew  pay  for  one  hundred  well- 
equipped  soldiers,  were  checked,  if  they  were  not 
suppressed.  Aided  by  Vauban,  Louvois  organized  the 
engineers  as  a  separate  branch  of  the  service.  The 
rapidity  with  which  cities  yielded  to  the  French  is  the 
best  proof  of  its  efficiency.^ 

It  was  impossible  that  the  Dutch  should  remain 
ignorant  of  these  preparations  for  their  overthrow. 
They  sought  to  counteract  them,  but  with  small  suc- 
cess. When  the  Triple  Alliance  was  formed,  De  Witt 
had  expressed  his  fears  at  abandoning  France  in  re- 
liance on  the  unstable  counsels  of  England.'^  His 
apprehensions  were  now  to  be  realized.  The  Dutch 
prostrated  themselves  before  Louis,  in  the  endeavor  to 
avert  his  hostility.  They  met  only  with  rebuffs.  If 
they  sought  to  know  wherein  they  had  given  offense, 
they  were  informed  that  it  was  better  for  them  that 
their  misdeeds  should  remain  untold.  Nor  were  they 
any  more  favorably  received  in  England.     They  tried 

1  The  reformations  effected  by  Louvois  are  described  with 
great  clearness  in  Histoire  de  Louvois,  t.  i.  ch.  iii.,  by  Camille 
Rousset.  M.  Rousset  has  made  such  research  in  the  correspon- 
dence and  archives  of  the  department  of  war  that  he  has  left 
little  to  be  added.  One  may,  however,  be  permitted  to  doubt 
whether  all  his  investigations  have  shown  his  hero  to  be  any  less 
responsible  for  the  fatal  political  errors  that  have  long  been  laid 
to  his  charge. 

2  Letters  of  Sir  William  Temple^  i.  162. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        75 

in  vain  to  keep  Charles  from  deserting  the  alliance 
which  he  had  made  only  four  years  before.  In  their 
extremity  they  sought  to  satisfy  British  pride  by  con- 
senting that  a  whole  Dutch  fleet  should  lower  its  flag 
before  a  single  English  warship,  if  England  would 
remain  true  to  her  agreements.^  But  if  Charles  did 
not  resemble  his  brother  of  France  in  the  qualities 
wherein  he  deserved  admiration,  he  showed  himself 
his  equal  in  insolence  when  dealing  with  a  weaker 
nation  in  distress. 

All  was  now  ready,  and  in  May,  1672,  Louis  in- 
vaded Holland  at  the  head  of  100,000  men.  The 
only  justification  for  his  act  which  he  gave  the  world 
was,  that  he  could  no  longer  repress  his  dissatisfaction 
at  the  conduct  of  the  United  Provinces  without  tar- 
nishing his  glory.2  At  the  same  time  the  English 
fleet  endeavored  to  effect  a  diversion  by  sea.  The 
part  of  the  English  in  this  war  was  as  inglorious  as 
their  undertaking  it  had  been  indefensible.  On  the 
sea  the  Dutch  held  their  own,  but  on  land  everything 
yielded  before  the  French.  Holland  had  no  forces 
with  which  she  could  resist  such  an  army  as  that  of 
the  invaders,  and  city  after  city  surrendered  in  rapid 
succession.  In  June  the  passage  of  the  Rhine  was 
effected.  This  famous  feat  of  arms  was  in  truth  one 
of  the  easiest  of  Louis's  many  easy  exploits.  The 
French  cavalry  swam  the  river  for  the  short  distance 
that  it  was  too  deep  to  be  forded.  A  few  Dutch 
soldiers  on  the  other  shore  immediately  ran  away.^ 
Yet  neither  Miltiades  at  Marathon  nor  Charles  Martel 
at  Poitiers  ever  received  one  tenth  of  the  adulation 

1  R^ponse  par  les  Etats  Gdneraux,  February  3,  1672. 

2  Ordinance  of  April  6,  1672. 

8  "  A  miUtary  operation  of  the  fourth  order,"  said  Napoleon. 


76  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

poured  upon  Louis  XIV.  for  the  passage  of  the  Rhine, 
in  which  his  own  part  was  confined  to  standing  upon 
the  bank  and  looking  on  ;  "  attached  to  the  shore  by  his 
greatness,"  said  Boileau,  in  words  which  were  meant 
for  praise.  It  is  not  strange  that  courtiers  should 
have  declared  Louis  to  be  a  great  general ;  the  extraor- 
dinary thing  is  that  both  courtiers  and  king  believed  it. 

The  French  had  now  overrun  a  large  part  of  Hol- 
land, and,  had  their  armies  proceeded  with  rapidity, 
it  is  possible  that  they  could  have  captured  Amster- 
dam itself.  The  States  General  were  overcome  by 
terror  at  an  advance  which  seemed  irresistible,  and  in 
June  their  representatives  presented  themselves  before 
the  conqueror  with  the  most  humiliating  proposals. 
They  offered  to  surrender  almost  a  third  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  Provinces,  and  to  pay  an  indemnity 
of  10,000,000  livres  for  the  expense  Louis  had  in- 
curred in  accomplishing  their  ruin.  Fortunately  for 
the  welfare  of  the  republic,  Lionne  was  dead,  and  the 
king  was  now  controlled  by  the  counsels  of  Louvois. 
The  representatives  were  treated  with  studied  discour- 
tesy and  their  ojBfers  were  declined.  At  last  the  French 
ultimatum  was  announced.  Holland  was  required  to 
surrender  a  very  much  larger  portion  of  her  soil ;  the 
war  indemnity  was  fixed  at  24,000,000  livres  ;  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  Catholic  religion  was  to  be  allowed  in 
what  little  was  left  of  the  republic,  and  the  Catholic 
priests  were  to  receive  stipends  from  the  state.  And 
lastly,  in  each  year  a  solemn  embassy  must  visit  Louis 
and  present  him  with  a  medal,  on  which  should  be  in- 
scribed a  device  thanking  him  for  having  the  second 
time  restored  peace  to  the  United  Provinces.^ 

Even  these  terms,  which  would  have  been  the  an- 
1  Dispatch  of  Louis  XIV.  to  Colbert,  July  1,  1672. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         77 

nihilation  of  Holland  as  an  independent  state,  Louis 
and  Louvois  in  their  infatuation  believed  would  be 
accepted.  "I  am  mistaken,"  Louvois  wrote  his  father, 
"  if  they  do  not  return  and  agree  to  all  that  has  been 
demanded."  ^  It  was  impossible  for  Louvois  to  attach 
any  importance  to  moral  forces.  He  recognized  no 
force  but  brute  force.  He  was  insolent  by  nature; 
the  Dutch  were  down,  and  he  felt  no  desire  to  spare 
them.  His  intellect  was  too  narrow  to  realize  that  the 
condition  of  affairs  might  change.  He  gained  for 
himself  a  fame  that  he  would  not  have  desired;  for 
to  the  blunders  of  Louvois,  quite  as  much  as  to  the 
determination  of  William,  must  we  ascribe  the  deliv- 
erance of  Holland  from  overthrow.  Louis  was  easily 
induced  to  follow  the  counsels  of  his  minister,  and  he 
was  so  happily  organized  that  he  never  acknowledged, 
even  to  himself,  that  he  had  made  a  mistake.  "  Ambi- 
tion and  the  love  of  glory  are  always  pardonable  in  a 
young  prince  who  has  been  as  well  treated  by  fortune 
as  I,"  he  wrote,  when  discussing  afterwards  his  refusal 
to  accept  the  proposals  of  the  States  General.^ 

Many  of  the  Dutch  had  protested  against  the  terms 
which  had  already  been  offered,  and  the  insulting 
propositions  of  Louis  roused  the  whole  country  to 
resistance.  Already  the  dikes  had  been  cut,  and  a 
large  portion  of  Holland  was  restored  to  the  ocean 
from  which  it  had  been  won.  The  French  could  con- 
quer the  land,  but  the  waves  of  the  sea  set  bounds  to 
their  progress.  Amsterdam  was  saved,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  further  victories  was  lost.  In  August,  Louis 
rejoined  his  sultanas  at  Saint  Germain,  and  the  cam- 
paign was  over. 

1  Louvois  to  Le  Tellier,  July  2,  1672. 

^  Mem.  of  Louis  XIV.  on  campaign  of  1672. 


78  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Odious  cruelties  were  practiced  in  those  parts  of 
Holland  of  which  the  French  had  possession.  "M. 
de  Maqueline  was  obliged  to  burn  a  village,"  Luxem- 
bourg wrote  Louvois,  "  and  as  it  was  night,  nothing 
was  saved.  Horses  and  cattle  were  burned,  and  they 
say  plenty  of  peasants,  women  and  children."  ^  The 
country  was  given  over  to  pillage  and  conflagration,  and 
such  cruelties  met  with  the  approval  of  the  minister 
of  war.  "  Take  all  the  advantage  possible,"  he  said, 
"  without  troubling  yourself  about  the  good  or  the  ill 
will  of  the  inhabitants."  ^  "  The  soldiers  roasted  all 
the  Dutch  in  the  village  of  Swammerdam,"  he  wrote 
the  Prince  of  Conde ;  "  they  did  not  let  one  escape."  ^ 
It  was  by  such  measures  that  Louvois  roused  his  op- 
ponents to  a  desperate  resistance.  The  waves  of  the 
sea  laid  waste  the  fields  of  Holland,  but  it  was  better 
than  leaving  them  to  be  plundered  by  a  brutal  sol- 
diery. The  burghers  of  Amsterdam  watched  the  wa- 
ters rising  about  their  pleasant  villas,  where  they  had 
smoked  their  pipes  and  counted  their  gains,  with  the 
feeling  that  this  was  less  painful  than  to  see  them 
burned  to  the  ground  by  the  mercenaries  of  Luxem- 
bourg. 

The  excitement  of  the  Dutch  public  led  to  a  lament- 
able act  of  barbarity.  John  De  Witt  had  long  held 
the  chief  authority  in  the  state,  and  he  had  shown 
alike  the  patriotism  of  a  citizen  and  the  wisdom  of 
a  statesman.  He  and  his  brother  were  now  held 
responsible  for  misfortunes  which  they  had  been  un- 
able to  avert.  With  better  reason,  they  were  charged 
with  jealousy  of  the  growing  power  of  the  Prince  of 

1  Luxembourg  to  Louvois,  November  16, 1672. 

2  Louvois  to  Luxembourg,  August  27,  1672. 
^  Louvois  to  Cond^,  January  7,  1673. 


WARS   WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.         79 

Orange,  the  future  William  III.  of  England.  The 
two  brothers  were  torn  to  pieces  by  a  brutal  mob, 
and  William  of  Orange,  at  twenty-one,  was  made  Stadt- 
holder  and  Captain-General  of  the  republic.  Young 
as  he  was,  he  possessed  the  obstinate  determination, 
the  power  of  heroic  resistance,  of  his  ancestors,  and  he 
hated  Louis  as  his  great-grandfather  had  hated  Philip. 
At  last  Europe,  which  apparently  had  been  content 
to  view  with  apathy  the  extinction  of  a  prosperous 
state,  was  roused  to  action.  The  Emperor  interfered 
in  behalf  of  Holland.  Spain  gave  such  aid  as  she 
could.  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg  joined  the  al- 
liance, and  in  two  years  there  was  hardly  a  power 
in  Germany  that  was  not  in  arms  against  France. 
Nor  was  Charles  long  able  to  hold  England  in  the 
interests  of  Louis.  Never  have  the  French  been  more 
hated  by  the  English  than  at  this  period,  when  their 
king  was  a  French  pensioner,  and  when  the  gold  of 
Louis  was  used  to  make  England  despicable  in  the 
sight  of  Europe.  Charles  struggled,  with  more  con- 
stancy than  he  usually  showed,  to  remain  firm  in  his 
alliance.  The  French  spent  money  freely  in  endeavors 
to  corrupt  the  members  of  Parliament.  But  money 
is  not  efficacious  against  public  opinion,  where  this 
has  free  opportunity  for  expression.  In  1674,  peace 
was  made  between  England  and  Holland.  By  giving 
liberally  to  Charles,  that  he  might  prorogue  the  Par- 
liament for  long  periods,  the  French  representatives 
succeeded  in  keeping  England  neutral.^  Though  she 
no  longer  joined  in  the  war  against  the  Dutch,  she 
did  not  take  up  arms  in  their  behalf. 

1  "  Rien  ne  me  parait  d'une  plus  grande  importance  que  d'eloi- 
gner  Tassembl^e  du  parlement  d'Angleterre.''  —  Louis  XIV.  to 
Colbert  de  Croissey,  ambassador  at  London. 


80  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  invasion  of  Holland  in  1672  led  to  a  European 
war  that  was  not  ended  until  1678.  France  had  to 
contend  with  Holland,  Spain,  and  the  most  of  Ger- 
many. She  received  no  assistance  except  from  Swe- 
den, whose  military  importance  had  greatly  decreased 
since  the  days  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  This  formi- 
dable alliance  had  been  excited  by  reckless  vindic- 
tiveness,  but  it  was  confronted  with  resolution  and 
success.  It  showed  how  far  the  resources  of  France 
exceeded  those  of  any  other  European  state,  that,  with 
only  one  unimportant  ally,  she  was  able  to  contend 
against  such  a  combination.  She  possessed,  however, 
many  advantages.  Holland  was  her  only  opponent 
who  was  not  crippled  by  constant  financial  distress. 
The  Dutch  were  obliged  to  contribute  liberally  towards 
the  support  of  the  armies  of  their  confederates,  and,  as 
with  all  such  alliances,  the  effectiveness  of  this  was 
diminished  by  divided  councils  and  mutual  recrimina- 
tions. On  the  other  hand,  one  purpose  governed  the 
armies  of  France;  they  were  supplied  and  equipped 
by  Louvois,  they  were  commanded  by  Luxembourg 
and  Turenne.  Turenne  was  intrusted  with  the  army 
of  the  Rhine,  and  his  last  campaigns  are  regarded  as 
masterpieces  of  the  art  of  war.  He  had  begun  his 
military  career  at  fourteen.  During  almost  forty  years 
of  his  life  he  had  been  actually  engaged  in  fighting, 
he  had  become  the  greatest  soldier  of  his  age,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  of  history.  As  he  was  reconnoi- 
tring near  the  village  of  Sasbach,  on  July  21,  1675, 
a  chance  ball  struck  him  and  he  fell  dead.  The  eight 
marshals  who  were  created  after  his  death  were  de- 
clared to  be  only  the  small  change  for  Turenne,  but 
the  French  armies  still  continued  to  be  led  with  ability. 
Luxembourg  now  revealed  himself  as  a  great  captain. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        81 

Far  inferior  to  Turenne,  both  in  character  and  in  the 
skill  needed  to  conduct  a  successful  campaign,  lie  was 
perhaps  his  equal  in  the  actual  hour  of  battle.  Often 
the  Prince  of  Orange  encountered  him  with  every 
prospect  of  success,  and  as  often  the  quick  intuitions 
of  Luxembourg  seized  the  opportunity  and  gained 
the  victory.  Cond^  made  his  last  appearance  in  the 
field  during  this  war.  At  twenty-one  he  had  been  a 
great  general ;  at  fifty  he  was  but  an  irresolute  and 
unsuccessful  commander,  and  he  now  retired  from  the 
service. 

Holland  was  soon  relieved  from  the  burden  of  hos- 
tile occupation.  Early  in  1674,  the  French  withdrew 
their  forces  from  that  country  ;  the  endeavor  to  chas- 
tise the  republic  was  abandoned,  and  the  scene  of  war 
was  transferred  to  the  Rhine  and  to  Flanders.  The 
occasion  had  been  lost  for  the  summary  punishment 
of  the  offending  Dutch,  and  Louis  now  concentrated 
his  attention  on  obtaining  some  further  territory  from 
Spain.  The  French  again  took  possession  of  Franche 
Comt^,  and  each  year  they  captured  some  towns  in  the 
Spanish  Low  Countries.  The  king  took  part  in  many 
of  these  sieges,  and  his  military  correspondence  during 
these  years  is  of  interest.  He  delighted  in  warfare. 
He  sent  off  letters  to  Louvois  at  all  hours  of  the 
night ;  he  was  always  in  hot  haste  for  the  latest  re- 
ports from  the  field ;  he  gave  directions  as  to  the 
most  trivial  matters  of  military  discipline.  The  men 
of  a  certain  company  must  be  up  by  six  to  report ; 
the  baggage  wagons  must  pass  by  a  certain  bridge ; 
the  guards  must  encamp  at  a  certain  distance  from  the 
royal  tent.  In  war,  as  in  peace,  Louis  delighted  in 
details.  But  the  conviction  of  his  greatness  as  a  gen- 
eral more  and  more  filled  his  mind.     The  adulation 


82  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

that  was  poured  upon  him  might  have  turned  the  head 
of  a  man  more  modest  by  nature.  Colbert  was  less 
fervent  in  his  praise  than  many  others  ;  he  was  ope  of 
the  few  who  dared  to  grumble  at  his  royal  master. 
Yet  Colbert  wrote,  when  Besan9on  had  surrendered 
after  a  little  leisurely  cannon  practice  :  "  Your  Ma- 
jesty has  captured  the  citadel  in  twenty-four  hours. 
We  can  but  wonder  in  silence,  and  daily  praise  God 
that  we  live  under  the  reign  of  a  king  whose  power  is 
bounded  only  by  his  desires."  ^  Such  flattery  seems 
highly  seasoned,  but  it  was  relished. 

The  accounts  which  Louis  has  given  us  of  his  cam- 
paigns are  interesting  from  their  frankness.  Other 
men  may  have  been  equally  content  with  themselves, 
but  they  have  hesitated  about  giving  solemn  and  per- 
manent expression  to  their  gratification.  Writes  hon- 
est Pepys :  "  I  counted  that  I  had  made  myself  now 
worth  about  eighty  pounds,  at  which  my  heart  was 
glad  and  blessed  God."  Louis  expresses  his  pleasure 
at  his  own  exploits  with  the  same  naivete,  and  some- 
times upon  no  greater  provocation.  "It  is  with  de- 
light," he  writes,  "  that  I  have  laid  siege  to  places 
which  the  greatest  captains  of  our  age  have  not  dared 
to  undertake.  I  aspired  to  surpass  them,  and  at  least 
I  have  succeeded  in  enterprises  which  they  deemed 
impossible."  ^ 

And  yet,  often  as  he  commanded  his  armies  in  per- 
son, he  could  never  summon  up  resolution  to  fight  a 
pitched  battle.  In  1676,  the  French  with  superior 
forces  were  near  Bouchain.  As  the  Prince  of  Orange 
marched  to  the  rescue  of  the  place,  he  exposed  himself 
to  an  attack  which  could  hardly  have  failed  of  sue- 

1  Colbert  to  the  king,  May  26,  1674. 

2  CEuvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  iv.  145. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        83 

cess.  The  Marshal  of  Lorges  implored  Louis  to 
seize  this  opportunity  for  winning  a  decisive  victory. 
Louvois  and  the  other  generals,  better  versed  in  the 
workings  of  the  royal  mind,  dissuaded  him.  The 
Duke  of  La  Feuillade  threw  himself  at  the  king's  feet, 
and  implored  him  not  to  expose  to  any  risk  of  battle 
a  life  so  precious  to  France.  "  I  yield,"  said  Louis, 
"but  with  regret."^  It  was  not  entirely  physical 
timidity  that  kept  the  king  from  such  a  venture.  Cer- 
tainly reckless  courage  was  not  one  of  his  failings,  but 
neither  could  he  fairly  be  called  a  coward.  During 
the  many  sieges  which  he  conducted,  he  sometimes 
placed  himself  within  range  of  a  stray  cannon-ball. 
To  be  sure,  he  did  not  remain  long  in  such  positions. 
But  the  danger  to  his  life  in  a  battle  was  almost  in- 
finitesimal. He  would  be  stationed  far  in  the  rear, 
and  conveyed  away  when  there  was  the  slightest  risk 
of  any  approach  of  the  enemy.  It  was  not  so  much 
for  his  person  that  he  was  afraid  as  for  his  invinci- 
bility. He  knew  that  in  such  an  engagement  there 
was  always  uncertainty.  He  could  undertake  a  siege 
with  absolute  assurance  of  success ;  but  in  the  field, 
chance,  skill,  accident,  might  overcome  any  advantages 
in  numbers  or  position.  He  dared  not  incur  the  pos- 
sibility of  defeat.  He  would  not  face  the  contingency, 
however  remote,  that  William  of  Orange  might  be 
proclaimed  through  Europe  the  conqueror  of  Louis 
XIV.  in  a  pitched  battle.  He  shrank  from  the  vision 
of  the  great  king  escaping  from  the  field  in  hot  haste, 
spurring  his  charger,  his  majestic  peruke  lost,  his  con- 
cubines in  dismay  following  their  retreating  lord, 
while  low-bred  Dutch  soldiers  rioted  in  the  royal  tent 

1  Louvois  to  Le  Tellier,  May  14,  1676  ;    Memoires  de  Saint 
Simon,  xii.  6,  7  ;  Mem*  de  La  Fare,  284,  ed.  Michaud. 


84  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

and  feasted  from  the  royal  plate.  Never  after  such  a 
spectacle  could  he  walk  with  the  same  majestic  dignity 
through  the  stately  gardens  of  Versailles. 

France  continued  to  show  herself  able  to  contend 
against  her  enemies  with  success.  In  1678,  Ghent  and 
Ypres  were  captured,  and  the  French  conquests  were 
carried  into  the  heart  of  Flanders.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  armies  of  the  empire  made  no  progress,  and 
William  of  Orange  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  his 
military  operations. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  Louis  had  abandoned  any 
hopes  of  chastising  the  insolence  of  the  Dutch,  he  en- 
deavored to  draw  them  from  the  alliance  against  him 
by  the  offer  of  favorable  terms.  The  commercial  pol- 
icy of  France  had  alienated  Holland  as  much  as  Louis's 
ambition.^  The  king  found  that  he  must  propose  con- 
cessions in  order  to  induce  that  country  to  make  peace. 
He  accordingly  announced  his  readiness  to  reduce 
largely  the  excessive  tariff  of  1667,  and  to  do  away 
with  other  restrictions  which  had  hampered  the  trade 
of  Holland  without  increasing  that  of  France.  These 
proposals  had  a  mollifying  influence  upon  the  burgh- 
ers of  Amsterdam  and  of  the  great  commercial  cit- 
ies. Louis  endeavored  also  to  conciliate  the  hostility 
of  William  of  Orange ;  he  made  the  most  flattering 
suggestions,  but  without  success.^  The  prince  felt  that 
it  would  be  dishonorable  to  desert  his  allies ;  he  was 
ambitious  for  reputation  as  a  soldier,  and  he  regarded 
France  and  her  king  with  the  animosity  that  a  cru- 
sader  felt  towards  the  Crescent.    But  many  of  the 

1  Abundant  proofs  of  this  can  be  found  in  the  correspondence 
between  De  Witt  and  the  Dutch  ambassadors  at  Paris. 

2  Louvois  to  Estrades,  August  19,  1674  ;  Louis  to  Ruvigny, 
August  25,  1674. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        85 

Dutch  were  less  zealous  in  the  prosecution  of  a  te- 
dious war  from  which  they  could  now  escape,  not  only 
without  loss,  but  with  actual  gain.  There  was  also 
a  large  party  in  Holland  which  was  jealous  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  They  feared  that 
he  would  seek  to  overthrow  their  republican  institu- 
tions, and  various  incidents  had  aroused  their  appre- 
hensions. The  deputies  of  Gueldres  offered  William 
the  sovereignty  of  their  province,  with  the  title  of 
duke.  Zutphen  followed  their  example  and  Utrecht 
approved  of  the  measure,  but  the  step  excited  such 
opposition  in  Holland  and  Zeeland  that  the  plan 
was  abandoned.  William's  friends  declared  that  he 
desired  the  offer  of  a  crown  only  that,  like  Caesar,  he 
might  put  it  by,  but  there  were  those  who  thought  he 
would  fain  have  had  it.^  The  progress  of  the  war  had 
not  been  attended  with  such  success  as  to  excite  en- 
thusiasm. The  Prince  of  Orange  showed  more  taste 
than  talent  for  fighting.  His  enemies  declared  that 
history  told  of  no  general  who  at  the  same  age  had 
lost  so  many  battles,  or  had  been  forced  to  raise  so 
many  sieges. 

At  last  terms  were  agreed  upon,  which  secured  to 
France  and  to  Europe  a  few  years  of  respite.  Hol- 
land abandoned  her  allies,  and  was  the  first  to  lay 
down  arms.  The  English  had  agreed  with  the  United 
Provinces  that  if  peace  was  not  made  by  August  11, 
1678,  they  would  unite  their  forces  against  France. 
At  eleven  on  the  night  of  the  10th,  the  French  and 
Dutch  representatives  at  Nimeguen  signed  articles  by 
which  the  war  between  their  countries  was  brought  to 

1  Memoirs  of  Sir  William  Temple,  93,  ed.  Michaud ;  Ruvigiiy 
to  Pomponne,  February  25,  1675 ;  Yan  den  Bosch  to  Estrades, 
February  18,  1675. 


86  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

an  end.  The  Dutch  surrendered  nothing  save  a  few 
unimportant  foreign  possessions.  On  the  other  hand, 
by  an  edict  that  was  immediately  issued,  their  goods 
were  allowed  to  enter  France,  subject  only  to  the 
moderate  duties  of  the  tariff  of  1664.  ^  Many  of  the 
restraints  upon  their  commerce  w^hich  Colbert  had  es- 
tablished were  now  abolished.  Holland  had  gained, 
rather  than  lost,  by  the  seven  years'  war  which  had 
been  undertaken  to  accomplish  her  overthrow.  It  was 
with  good  reason  that  the  announcement  of  the  treaty 
stirred  the  phlegmatic  Dutch  to  enthusiasm  ;  that  their 
streets  were  filled  with  jubilant  crowds  ;  that  the  pub- 
lic buildings  blazed  with  fireworks,  and  the  fountains 
ran  red  with  wine.^  The  Prince  of  Orange  was,  how- 
ever, bitterly  opposed  to  the  peace.  He  declared  it 
to  be  a  shameful  desertion  of  the  allies,  nor  could  he 
reconcile  himself  to  the  large  accessions  of  territory 
which  France  received  from  Spain.  He  had  been 
unable  to  prevent  the  agreement  for  a  peace,  but  he 
attempted  to  break  it  in  a  manner  that  is  a  stain  upon 
his  memory.  On  the  14th  of  August,  three  days  after 
the  treaty  had  been  signed,  and  when  he  must  have 
known  of  its  existence,  he  made  a  desperate  assault 
on  the  French  army  before  Mons.  If  he  could  gain 
an  important  advantage,  he  might  still  hope  to  be  able 
to  prevent  the  ratification  of  the  treaty ;  but  if  he 
expected  to  win  a  victory  from  the  Marshal  of  Lux- 
embourg, he  had  learned  nothing  from  the  uniform 
experience  of  the  past.  A  bloody  battle  was  fought  at 
Saint  Denis,  without  advantage  to  either  side.  Two 
thousand  men  were  killed  and  twice  as  many  wounded 

1  Actes  et  memoir es  de  la  paix  de  Nimegue,  ii.  590-652  ;  CoT' 
respondance  de  HoUande,  108. 

2  Avaux  to  Louis,  September  29  and  October  6,  1678. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.        87 

to  gratify  William's  desire  to  gain  the  glory  of  a 
victory,  and  to  protract  a  war  which  had  lasted  for 
seven  years.  On  the  next  day  he  received  from  the 
States  General  a  letter  telling  him  that  peace  had 
been  made.^ 

Spain  was  compelled  to  yield  the  territories  which 
Holland  had  agreed  upon  as  the  measure  of  compen- 
sation to  which  France  was  entitled.  Tranche  Comte 
was  surrendered,  and  has  ever  since  remained  a  part 
of  France.  In  Flanders,  Saint  Omer,  Cambray,  Va- 
lenciennes, and  many  other  important  cities  were  ceded, 
while  Louis  relinquished  a  few  places  which  he  had 
obtained  by  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.^  The  peace 
of  Nimeguen  fixed  the  northern  boundary  of  France 
substantially  as  it  remains  to-day.    The  Emperor  had 

1  There  seems  no  justification  for  this  battle,  and  it  illustrates 
the  merciless  tenacity  of  the  character  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
Neither  William's  own  statement,  nor  the  version  of  his  ad- 
mirer, Sir  William  Temple,  denies  that  the  Prince  was  aware,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  that  an  agreement  had  been  reached.  William 
claims  that  he  did  not  really  know  of  the  signature  of  the  treaty, 
and  so  was  at  liberty  to  prevent  a  peace  which  he  knew  was  im- 
minent, and  of  which  he  disapproved.  —  Letters  of  William  to 
Fagel,  August  15,  and  to  States  General,  August  17, 1678.  Gour- 
ville  is  not  always  above  suspicion,  but  he  was  an  intimate  friend, 
and  his  report  of  a  conversation  with  the  prince,  p.  576,  ed. 
Michaud,  I  think  gives  the  facts  of  the  case.  From  the  reports 
that  had  reached  William,  he  had  no  doubt  that  a  treaty  had 
been  signed.  At  the  same  time,  he  had  received  no  official  no- 
tice, and  could  truthfully  say  that  he  had  no  certain  legal  know- 
ledge of  its  existence.  Years  afterwards  William  spoke  of  Gour- 
ville  as  one  of  his  oldest  acquaintances,  and  wrote  Portland  to 
present  his  compliments.  —  William  to  Portland,  July  13,  1698. 
The  letters  and  reports  of  the  Duke  of  Luxembourg  contain  an 
accurate  account  of  the  battle. 

2  Actes  et  memoires  de  lapaix  de  Nimegue,  ii.  729-751. 


88  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

no  choice  but  to  follow  the  example  of  his  allies. 
The  border  provinces  of  Germany  had  been  barbar- 
ously ravaged  by  the  French  armies ;  ashes  marked  the 
site  of  many  once  flourishing  villages  of  the  Palati- 
nate ;  all  desired  peace.  Only  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg was  reluctant  to  make  terms.  He  had  cap- 
tured Pomerania  from  Sweden,  and  he  was  loath  to 
surrender  it.  Fidelity  to  his  allies  was  one  of  Louis's 
virtues.  He  was  resolved  that  Sweden  should  not 
suffer  from  the  ill-success  that  had  befallen  her  in  a 
war  undertaken  in  his  behalf,  even  if  he  had  to  con- 
tinue the  conflict  in  order  to  compel  restitution.  The 
elector  poured  out  his  wrath  on  the  Dutch.  He  had 
taken  up  arms  to  save  them  from  destruction,  he  said, 
and  now  they  had  shamelessly  deserted  him  ;  when 
they  were  again  in  extremity  they  would  look  in  vain 
for  the  aid  which  they  repaid  with  base  ingratitude.^ 
He  implored  Louis  to  let  him  keep  a  little  of  what 
he  had  gained.^  But  neither  reproaches  nor  suppli- 
cations were  of  any  avail.  Nearly  everything  that 
Sweden  had  lost  was  again  surrendered  to  her.  The 
elector  and  some  of  the  other  German  princes  were 
consoled  by  considerable  sums  of  money,  which  France 
paid  to  secure  restitution  for  her  ally.  By  the  sum- 
mer of  1679,  Europe  was  again  at  peace.^ 

The  treaty  of  Nimeguen  is  the  high-water  mark  in 
the  fortunes  of  Louis  XIV.  He  had  encountered  suc- 
cessfully a  European  coalition.  He  had  gained  im- 
portant accessions  of  territory.  France  was  strained 
by  her  exertions,  but  she  was  not  in  the  wretched  con- 

1  Actes,  etc.,  de  Nimegue,  ii.  657-662. 

2  Elector  to  Louis,  May  26,  1679. 

^  These  various  treaties  are  contained  in  Actes,  etc,  de  Ni^ 
megue,  t.  iii.,  iv. 


WARS    WITH  SPAIN  AND  HOLLAND.       89 

dition  to  which  she  was  later  reduced.  The  authori- 
ties of  Paris  in  1680  solemnly  bestowed  upon  Louis 
the  title  of  "the  Great."  Posterity  has  declined  to 
recognize  it,  and  the  succeeding  years  of  Louis's  reign 
furnish  abundant  grounds  for  the  refusal. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
kingdom  ;  to  the  efforts  to  increase  its  wealth  by  com- 
mercial regulations,  and  to  enhance  its  piety  by  the 
persecution  of  heretics  ;  to  the  influence  exercised  by 
the  monarch  upon  literature,  manners,  and  political 
institutions. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

COLBERT. 
1661-1683. 

Jean  Baptiste  Colbert  was  born  in  1619  at 
Eheims,  and,  like  most  of  the  great  ministers  of  the 
Bourbon  dynasty,  he  belonged  to  the  middle  classes. 
When  he  had  become  a  great  man,  complacent  gene- 
alogists traced  for  him  an  ancient  pedigree,  but  in 
fact  his  ancestors  were  respectable  and  sturdy  bour- 
geois. His  father  was  a  dealer  in  cloth,  and  in  his 
shop  the  young  Colbert  may  have  acquired  the  habits 
of  order,  economy,  and  integrity  which  were  to  make 
him  famous.^  In  appearance,  as  in  conduct,  he  was 
distinguished  from  men  like  Fouquet,  who  squandered 
the  nation's  money  with  perfect  good-breeding.  His 
face  was  dark  and  forbidding ;  heavy  black  eyebrows, 
concealing  deep-set  eyes,  gave  him  a  stern  and  austere 
expression.^  Amid  a  court  where  courteous  and  affa- 
ble manners  characterized  the  relations  of  even  the 
bitterest  enemies,  Colbert's  demeanor  was  brusque 
and  his  speech  was  icy.  Mme.  de  S^vigne  compared 
him  to  the  North  Pole.     She  had  occasion  to  ask  a 

1  Memoires  c?'  Ormesson,  ii.  486, 487.  "  I  have  seen  his  father," 
says  Ormesson  ;  "  he  was  a  little  fellow,  with  a  respectable  ap- 
pearance, and  was  an  honest  man."  The  father  came  to  Paris 
late  in  life,  and  bought  a  petty  municipal  office.  Ormesson's 
informant   said  that  Colbert  was  an  exceptionally  stupid  boy. 

2  Mem.  de  Choisy,  575,  ed.  Michaud. 


COLBERT,  91 

favor  of  him,  and  was  as  cliilled  by  the  interview  as 
though  she  had  ventured  into  the  region  of  eternal 
snow.^ 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  years  of  Colbert's  life, 
but  when  thirty-one  he  entered  the  service  of  Car- 
dinal Mazarin.  This  employment  proved  the  opening 
for  a  career  which  made  him  during  many  years  the 
most  influential  man  in  France,  and  which  modified 
the  financial  policy  of  that  country. 

His  opinion  of  his  employer  was  at  first  anything 
but  favorable.  In  his  letters  he  complains  of  the 
cardinal's  irresolution,  of  his  delays,  and  of  his  man- 
ners. Even  the  way  in  which  Mazarin  pursed  his 
mouth  and  shook  his  head  while  talking,  the  young 
employee  found  most  offensive.  "  He  has  never  taken 
thought  for  the  morrow,"  Colbert  wrote  Le  Tellier, 
"  and  now  he  does  not  consider  in  the  morning  what 
will  happen  at  noon."  It  was  with  difficulty,  he  said, 
that  he  could  endure  the  conduct  of  a  man  for  whom 
he  had  no  regard.^  Colbert's  opinion  of  the  cardinal 
changed  in  time.  He  received  from  Mazarin  favors 
and  money  in  abundance,  and  he  was  grateful.  He 
discovered,  also,  that  while  it  was  easy  to  criticise  the 
Italian,  who  made  many  promises  and  kept  few,  whose 
French  was  poor  and  whose  manners  were  not  always 
pleasing,  yet  this  man  who  seemed  so  supple  was  a  great 
statesman,  who  followed  with  undeviating  purpose  the 
policy  that  would  increase  the  power  of  France. 

While  Mazarin  was  a  sagacious  politician,  he  was 
a  poor  financier.     His  private  estate  was  in  the  same 

1  Lettres  de  Mme.  de  Sevigne,  iii.  331  ;  v.  143. 

2  Colbert  to  Le  Tellier,  June  12,  23,  1650,  January  4,  1652. 
"  Notre  homme  est  encore  pis  qu'il  n'estoit,"  he  writes  Le  Tellier 
in  1652. 


92  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

confusion  as  the  public  treasury,  and  Colbert  desired 
an  opportunity  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos.  He  told 
the  cardinal  that  he  must  have  some  one  to  take 
charge  of  his  affairs  who  would  be  zealous  and  faith- 
ful, and  in  whom  he  could  put  entire  confidence,  and 
he  insinuated  that  the  proper  man  was  at  hand. 
"  I  would  not  have  allowed  the  horrible  waste  you 
have  made  of  your  property,"  he  wrote  Mazarin,  with 
the  same  freedom  of  speech  that  he  sometimes  used 
in  after  years,  when  he  had  Louis  XIV.  for  a  master.^ 
Mazarin  was  judicious  enough  to  follow  this  advice. 
Colbert  was  made  superintendent  of  the  cardinal's 
estate,  and  he  managed  it  with  such  skill  that  the 
cardinal  died  the  richest  man  in  France.  Colbert 
devoted  himself  to  his  employment  with  the  same 
untiring  zeal  that  he  showed  afterwards  in  more 
important  positions.  He  scolded  his  master  roundly 
for  his  extravagance  ;  he  watched  the  smallest  details 
of  his  affairs  with  eager  interest.  As  he  obtained 
more  of  Mazarin's  confidence,  he  sometimes  gave  ad- 
vice about  political  questions.  In  one  letter  he  sug- 
gests plans  for  reforming  the  finances  of  the  nation, 
in  the  next  he  says  that  he  has  found  some  cloth  that 
will  make  an  exceedingly  warm  rohe  de  chambre  for 
his  Eminence,  and  apparently  he  was  equally  interested 
in  both  subjects.  He  gave  a  great  deal  of  attention 
to  the  welfare  of  some  sucking  calves  ;  he  counted  the 
eggs  as  carefully  as  a  market-woman ;  he  was  soli- 
citous about  the  cardinal's  wine,  anxious  about  his 
melons,  and  distressed  about  his  clothes.  When  the 
king  was  to  marry,  Colbert  was  charged  with  some  of 
the  preparations,  and  this  reduced  him  to  a  sad  plight. 

1  Colbert  to  Mazarin,  February  17,  May  4,  June  27,  Septem- 
ber 1,  1651. 


COLBERT.  93 

It  was  to  no  purpose  that  Mazarin  wrote  him  not  to 
disquiet  himself  over  such  bagatelles.^  Kestless  activ- 
ity, and  a  desire  that  all  things  should  be  done  right, 
whether  great  or  small,  were  the  distinguishing  quali- 
ties of  Colbert's  character. 

The  supposed  speech  of  Mazarin  on  his  deathbed 
to  Louis  XIV.  has  been  often  quoted.  "  I  owe  you 
all,  but  I  pay  the  debt  in  giving  you  Colbert."  ^  It 
was  not  in  such  stilted  language  that  the  cardinal 
expressed  himself,  and  this  famous  saying  rests  on  no 
authority  but  the  gossip  of  a  vivacious  and  an  untrust- 
worthy abbe.  But  in  the  most  solemn  manner  Maza- 
rin left  the  record  of  his  judgment  on  Colbert.  By 
his  will,  made  shortly  before  his  death,  the  cardinal 
gave  Colbert  the  house  in  which  he  was  living,  and 
he  then  says  :  "  And  I  pray  the  king  to  employ  him 
in  his  service,  because  he  is  faithful."  ^  It  was  high 
praise  and  just  praise.  Extraordinary  fidelity,  rather 
than  extraordinary  intellect,  rendered  Colbert  useful 
and  made  him  famous. 

Colbert  was  appointed  superintendent  of  finances 
by  Louis,  and  this  mark  of  confidence  was  followed 
by  many  others.  He  was  made  a  secretary  of  state ; 
he  was  given  charge  of  the  navy,  of  the  colonies,  and 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  t.  i.  208,  220,  224,  424,  et  passim. 
"Never  since  I  have  been  in  the  world,"  he  writes  Mazarin, 
"have  I  had  so  much  anxiety  as  I  have  now  lest  something 
should  be  lacking  at  the  king's  marriage.  I  attend  to  nothing 
else  from  five  in  the  morning  until  eleven  at  night."  —  Letter  of 
March  5,  1660. 

-2  Mem.  de  Choisy,  579,  ed.  Michaud. 

8  Arch,  des  Aff.  Etr.  Fr.,  171.  "Estant  fort  fidMe."  This 
was  the  will  by  which  Mazarin  left  his  estate  to  the  king.  The 
final  will  was  executed  a  few  days  later,  and  Colbert  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  executors. 


94  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  the  royal  buildings.  These  varied  employments 
required  an  enormous  amount  of  labor,  but  they 
hardly  satisfied  his  prodigious  industry.  He  regarded 
sixteen  hours  as  no  more  than  a  fair  day's  work. 
"  You  ask  me  whether  it  is  better  to  work  by  day  or 
by  night,"  he  wrote  his  son ;  "  I  answer  that  one  must 
work  both  by  day  and  night."  For  many  years  he 
exerted  a  large  influence  in  the  counsels  of  the  king. 
His  master's  confidence  was  fully  accorded  to  him,  and 
the  minister  was  willing  to  undertake  duties  which 
to  us  seem  incongruous.  He  was  intrusted  with  the 
delicate  task  of  making  preparations  for  the  safe  and 
the  secret  entry  into  the  world  of  the  children  of 
Mile,  de  la  Valliere.^  He  attended  to  the  mission 
thus  assigned  him  with  zeal,  and  without  repugnance. 
He  saw  that  proper  persons  were  employed,  and  that 
due  secrecy  was  preserved.  The  king  regarded  no 
service  connected  with  himself  as  degrading;  he  saw 
no  incongruity  in  employing  his  ministers  as  mid- 
wives,  or  in  combining  the  care  of  his  bastards  with 
the  charge  of  his  finances. 

Colbert  regarded  his  master  with  affection  and 
veneration.  It  might  seem  that  an  ostentatious  and 
extravagant  king  would  not  have  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  an  austere  and  thrifty  financier.  But  Louis 
seemed  as  wonderful  a  sovereign  to  Colbert  as  to  his 
other  subjects,  and  the  minister  worshiped  the  mon- 
arch with  entire  sincerity.  "  We  live  under  the 
greatest  king  who  ever  bore  a  sceptre,"  he  wrote  one 
of  his  subordinates,  when  Louis  was  peacefully  taking 
possession  of  Franche  Comte,  "who  is  now  at  the 
head  of  his  army,  performing  feats  that  will  astound 

1  Particularites  secretes  de  la  vie  du  Roi,  a  fragment  written  by 
Colbert  himself. 


COLBERT.  95 

posterity."  ^  And  yet  his  bourgeois  common  sense 
and  his  desire  that  taxation  should  be  moderate  and 
the  finances  in  order  were  often  so  disturbed  by 
Louis's  extravagance  that  he  rated  him  roundly. 
.  "  Your  Majesty,"  he  wrote  in  1680,  "  has  never  con- 
sulted your  receipts  in  order  to  decide  upon  your  ex- 
penses, a  course  so  extraordinary  that  certainly  there 
is  no  other  example  of  it."  ^  Unfortunately  there  have 
been  innumerable  examples  of  the  same  procedure, 
and  with  others,  as  with  Louis  XIV.,  it  usually  ends 
in  bankruptcy. 

The  finances  of  France  when  Colbert  assumed  their 
charge,  after  the  overthrow  of  Fouquet,  were  in  the 
utmost  confusion.  Taxation  was  so  heavy  that  a 
large  part  of  the  populat\on  were  in  constant  misery. 
The  government  received  so  little  of  the  proceeds  that 
it  was  in  constant  embarrassment.  In  the  cottage  of 
the  peasant  there  was  need  because  the  tax-gatherer 
took  so  much ;  in  the  palace  of  the  king  there  was 
need  because  the  tax-gatherer  returned  so  little.  In 
1661,  the  sums  collected  amounted  to  84,000,000 
livres.  Yet  so  much  had  been  assigned  for  advances, 
or  was  absorbed  in  the  payment  of  enormous  rates  of 
interest  and  of  fraudulent  debts,  that  the  net  income 
of  the  king  was  only  32,000,000.^  Colbert  resolved 
to  increase  the  revenue  of  the  king  and  to  diminish 
the  burdens  of  the  people,  and  he  did  both.  These 
results  were  accomplished  in  part  by  methods  which 
would  now  be  equivalent  to  repudiation,  and  would 
destroy  national  credit.  But  financial  measures  of 
that  period  cannot  be  judged  altogether  by  present 

1  Colbert  to  M.  de  Seve,  May  25,  1674. 

2  LettreSf  etc.,  de  Colbert,  ii.  256. 

^  Forbonnais,  Recherches  sur  les  Finances,  i.  289. 


96  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

standards.  There  was  so  much  of  confusion,  of 
irregularity,  and  of  fraud,  that  the  remedies  were 
as  violent  as  the  disease.  Evidences  of  indebted- 
ness had  been  issued  in  great  quantities,  some  for  a 
small  consideration  and  some  for  none  at  all.  Yet 
all  might  claim  to  be  regular  on  their  face ;  they 
passed  from  hand  to  hand  like  other  securities ;  the 
refusal  to  recognize  any  of  them  could  be  denounced 
as  a  violation  of  the  national  faith.  Colbert  was  lit- 
tle disturbed  by  such  considerations.  He  regarded 
the  state  as  a  minor,  which  could  always  avoid  a  con- 
tract made  to  its  own  detriment.  He  proceeded  to 
revise  the  various  issues  of  rentes,  and  the  assign- 
ments of  revenue,  which  constituted  the  national  debt. 
Those  that  were  wholly  fraudulent  in  their  inception 
he  canceled ;  the  others  were  reduced  to  the  amounts 
which  the  government  had  originally  received  upon 
them.^  It  was  in  vain  that  an  outcry  was  raised 
against  such  measures  by  those  who  claimed  that  they 
had  purchased  these  securities  in  good  faith,  and  that 
they  would  be  ruined  by  their  repudiation.  Dubois 
declared  the  government  of  France  to  be  strong  be- 
cause it  could  repudiate  its  debts  at  pleasure.     Cer- 

1  Full  accounts  of  these  measures  can  be  found  in  Lettres  et 
memoires  de  Colbert,  a  work  in  nine  great  volumes,  containing 
the  most  important  of  Colbert's  correspondence  and  official 
papers,  and  published  by  the  French  government  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  M.  Cldment,  who  devoted  a  large  portion  of 
his  life  to  the  study  of  Colbert's  career.  See,  also,  Forbonnais, 
Recherches  sur  les  Finances.  Clement's  Histoire  de  Colbert,  pub- 
lished in  1874,  is  founded  upon  his  official  correspondence,  and 
is  the  most  valuable  work  on  the  subject.  In  the  Journal  d^Or- 
messon  can  be  found  the  complaints  of  those  who  were  aggrieved 
by  Colbert's  measures,  and  this  gives  an  interesting  picture 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  minister  was  regarded  at  the  time. 
See,  also,  Reg'Mres  de  V Hotel  de  Ville. 


COLBERT,  97 

tainly  it  availed  itself  frequently  of  this  prerogative. 
The  measures  of  Colbert,  though  they  may  appear 
violent,  were  necessary  and  justifiable.  The  rentes 
had  been  neither  issued  nor  purchased  as  such  securi- 
ties now  are.  Few  sustained  any  more  serious  injury 
from  their  reduction  than  the  loss  of  unconscionable 
profits  which  they  had  hoped  to  make.  The  credit  of 
the  state  was  so  poor  that  its  evidences  of  debt  were 
purchased  as  onie  now  deals  in  the  bonds  of  Turkey, 
or  of  a  bankrupt  South  American  republic.  There 
was  the  chance  of  a  great  profit,  and  purchasers  felt 
neither  surprised  nor  greatly  aggrieved  if  they  were 
disappointed  in  their  hopes.  As  a  result  of  such 
measures,  the  net  receipts  of  the  government  were 
largely  increased.  In  1670,  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
state  were  only  12,000,000  livres  more  than  in  1661, 
but  the  net  receipts  had  increased  almost  40,000,000.^ 
These  figures  are  the  best  justification  of  Colbert's 
measures.  Boileau  wrote  of  the  pale  rentier,  who  had 
just  read  the  edict  reducing  his  income  by  a  quarter, 
but  the  inconvenience  experienced  by  some  was  far 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  relief  given  to 
the  taxpayers.2  The  cancellation  of  a  large  amount 
of  securities  issued  in  fraud  and  rarely  held  by  bona 
fide  purchasers  was  beneficial  to  the  country  at  large, 
and  by  this  result  the  policy  of  a  statesman  must  be 
judged. 

It  was  with  equal  vigor  that  Colbert  proceeded 
against  another  class,  who  had  profited  too  largely  at 
the  expense  of  the  government.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  taxes  imposed  in  France  were  let  to  contractors, 
farmers  general,  as  they  were  called.     They  paid  to 

^  Forbonnais,  i.  445. 
2  Boileau,  Satire,  3. 


98  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

the  state  the  amount  of  their  bids,  and  then  collected 
from  taxpayers  all  that  could  be  justified  by  the  finan- 
cial edicts  in  force,  and  often  much  more.  Such  a 
system  was  vicious  in  its  nature,  and  became  more  so 
in  its  operation.  The  farmers  general  were  the  rich- 
est class  in  the  community.  The  splendor  of  their 
chateaux  and  the  extravagance  of  their  living  were 
notorious.  They  drove  the.  finest  horses,  drank  the 
best  champagne,  and  kept  the  most  beautiful  mis- 
tresses. A  court  was  now  organized  to  investigate 
the  contracts  made  with  the  farmers  of  taxes  during 
twenty-five  years,  and  to  compel  the  repayment  to  the 
state  of  whatever  had  been  gained  above  a  reasonable 
profit.  Death  was  no  protection,  for  the  families  were 
obliged  to  surrender  a  wealth  that  had  been  unjustly 
earned.  Those  who  had  dealt  with  the  government 
were  required  to  state  the  amount  of  their  fortunes, 
and  to  show  that  these  had  been  honestly  acquired. 
If  a  financier  was  rich,  it  was  regarded  as  conclusive 
evidence  that  he  had  made  unjust  gains  at  the  expense 
of  the  state.  Such  legislation  certainly  savors  of 
Turkish  modes  of  procedure.  Its  justification  was 
that  the  entire  system  of  the  collection  of  taxes  in 
France  was  little  better  than  that  which  is  now  prac- 
ticed by  Turkish  Beys  in  Asia  Minor,  or  by  the  tax- 
gatherers  on  the  Upper  Nile.  The  court  proceeded 
with  the  vigor  that  was  desired  by  the  minister. 
Enormous  fines  were  imposed  on  the  wealthy  finan- 
ciers. Some  escaped  from  France,  some  died  of  fright 
at  the  prospect  of  losing  their  gains.  At  last  a  com- 
position was  made.  The  various  persons  against 
whom  proceedings  were  taken  surrendered  in  the  ag- 
gregate about  90,000,000  livres  of  evidences  of  debt 
against   the    government,    and    paid    20,000,000    in 


COLBERT.  99 

money.^  We  may  safely  assume  that  the  securities 
surrendered  by  the  offenders  had  cost  them  but  a 
small  percentage  of  their  nominal  value. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Colbert's  conservatism  that 
he  suggested  no  change  in  a  system  which  was  es- 
sentially erroneous,  and  which  was  liable  to  constant 
abuse.  With  the  exception  of  the  taille,  the  sums  to 
be  realized  from  taxation  continued  to  be  sold  to  those 
whose  interest  was  to  pay  the  government  as  little  as 
possible,  and  to  collect  from  the  people  as  much  as 
possible.^  During  his  own  administration,  however, 
the  farms  were  let  to  the  best  advantage.  Forty  mil- 
lion livres  were  realized  in  1670  from  the  proceeds  of 
taxes  which  in  1661  had  yielded  but  23,000,000,  and 
this  great  gain  was  not  -attended  by  any  considerable 
increase  in  the  burdens  imposed  upon  the  taxpayers.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  Colbert  gave  constant  attention 
to  reducing  the  amount  of  the  taille,  the  direct  tax 
imposed  upon  the  property  of  the  mass  of  the  com- 
munity, and  he  is  entitled  to  the  praise  due  the  man 
who  lightens  the  burdens  of  the  poor.^ 

The  result  of  such  measures  was  a  great  improve- 
ment in  the  financial  condition  of  the  country.  France 
was  prosperous,  and  the  sums  which  Colbert  was  able 
to  furnish  his  master  enabled  him  to  display  a  magni- 
ficence and  to  support  an  army  such  as  could  be  main- 

1  Mem.  d* Ormesson,  u  400  et  pas.  Ormesson  was  a  member 
of  the  Chamber  of  Justice.  —  Lettres  de  Colbert,  t.  i.,  ii. 

2  There  were  some  taxes  besides  the  taille  which  were  not 
farmed,  but  of  comparatively  small  importance. 

2  Forbonnais,  t.  i. 

^  Mem.  de  Colbert  au  Roi :  Lettres  de  Colbert,  ii.  120.  In 
1657,  the  taille  had  reached  53,000,000  livres,  but  it  was  less 
in  1661.  At  the  close  of  Colt)ert's  administration,  it  had  been 
reduced  to  35,000,000. 


100         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

taiiied  by  no  other  monarch.  The  war  of  1672  com- 
pelled Colbert  to  resort  again  to  loans,  but  the  credit 
of  the  country  under  his  administration  was  good.  He 
borrowed  during  the  war  at  from  six  to  eight  per  cent, 
and  at  the  close  of  it  he  funded  the  debt  at  five  per 
cent.  Holland  was  the  only  other  European  govern- 
ment which  at  that  period  could  obtain  money  at  such 
low  rates. 

The  ameliorations  which  Colbert  effected  in  the 
financial  condition  of  France,  important  and  benefi- 
cial at  the  time,  are  of  less  interest  now  because  the 
methods  of  taxation  under  the  old  regime  have  ceased 
to  exist.  On  the  other  hand,  his  commercial  system 
and  its  results  can  still  furnish  instruction.  Similar 
questions  arise  at  the  present  day.  The  policy  of 
Colbert  for  fostering  industry  and  increasing  national 
wealth  has  had  many  advocates,  both  in  his  own 
country  and  in  other  lands.  It  demands,  therefore, 
careful  examination. 

France  was  naturally  a  rich  country.  Her  soil  was 
fertile,  her  people  were  industrious  and  thrifty.  She 
had  a  large  seacoast ;  she  possessed  advantages  of  cli- 
mate and  situation  favorable  for  her  development  as 
a  manufacturing  and  distributing  centre.  Her  popu- 
lation was  three  times  as  large  as  that  of  England. 
With  judicious  systems  of  taxation,  and  an  opportu- 
nity for  the  free  development  of  enormous  natural 
resources,  France  was  sure  to  increase  steadily  in 
population,  wealth,  and  happiness. 

This  natural  tendency  Colbert  sought  to  hasten  by 
artificial  means,  and  these  endeavors  are  the  most  in- 
teresting part  of  his  career.  His  name  is  identified 
with  protective  tariffs,  and  with  paternal  theories  of 
government.     The  French  have  always  shown  them- 


^,  ^      ^JolI^M".  101 

selves  believers  intfce^ffiCacy  of  public  control  of  pri- 
vate enterprise.  The  views  of  Colbert  long  exerted  a 
large  influence  in  this  direction,  and  they  are  not  with- 
out weight,  even  in  the  greatly  modified  form  in  which 
such  tendencies  still  exist  in  France.  It  is,  however, 
a  serious  though  a  common  error  to  suppose  that  he 
introduced  any  new  elements  into  commercial  legisla- 
tion. He  was  not  the  father  of  protectionism  in  France, 
any  more  than  he  was  the  first  to  insist  on  state  regu- 
lation of  the  size  of  cloaks,  or  the  quality  of  cloths. 
In  fact,  there  was  nothing  novel  in  Colbert  except  his 
integrity  and  his  efficiency.  His  zeal  was  new,  his 
policy  was  old.  He  took  the  commercial  theories  of 
the  past  and  enforced  them  with  fresh  vigor.  Edicts, 
by  which  the  entry  of  foreign  goods  had  been  re- 
stricted or  prevented,  form  a  part  of  the  commercial 
history  of  the  Middle  Ages.  They  can  claim  the  same 
sanction  of  antiquity  as  the  edicts  which  forbade  the 
shipment  of  gold,  or  prohibited  undue  luxury  in  dress. 
Import  duties  and  the  prohibition  of  importations  can 
be  found  as  far  back  as  the  seventh  century ;  they  can 
be  found  wherever  trade  was  sufficient  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  government,  and  the  facilities  of  trans- 
portation made  it  possible  for  one  country  to  deal  with 
another.  Under  Philip  the  Fair,  the  exportation  of 
wool  was  forbidden  at  the  request  of  the  French  man- 
ufacturers, that  they  might  get  their  raw  material 
more  cheaply.  Repeated  edicts  were  promulgated  by 
Francis  I.  and  his  successors,  which  forbade  the  im- 
portation of  various  classes  of  foreign  goods.  In  1572, 
under  Charles  IX.,  an  edict  prohibited  the  importa- 
tion of  linens,  velvets,  carpets,  and  many  other  articles, 
*'  that  the  subjects  of  the  king  may  devote  themselves 
more  to  such  manufactures,  and  gain  the  profits  which 


102  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

are  now  made  by  foreigners."  ^  Both  the  practice  and 
the  theory  of  a  protective  tariff  appear  in  this  ordi- 
nance. Enactments  of  this  kind  were  frequent  in 
France  and  elsewhere,  though  they  were  characterized 
by  the  irregularities  of  all  mediaeval  legislation,  and 
were  sporadic  rather  than  systematic.  Spain  was  es- 
pecially severe  in  her  prohibition  of  foreign  manufac- 
tures, and  long  continued  constant  to  this  policy.  In 
fact,  it  may  be  said  that  any  legislation  or  lack  of 
legislation  by  which  men  are  allowed  to  manufacture 
as  they  please,  buy  as  they  please,  or  sell  as  they 
please,  is  essentially  modern.  What  is  new  is  liberty, 
and  what  is  old  is  restraint. 

The  duties  imposed  on  foreign  goods  during  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  were,  on  the 
whole,  less  in  France  than  in  Spain,  England,  and 
many  other  European  countries.  Sully  had  shown  a 
tendency  towards  liberality  in  interstate  commerce, 
and  he  endeavored,  though  without  success,  to  agree 
with  Queen  Elizabeth  upon  a  reciprocal  reduction  of 
the  duties  on  English  and  French  products.  Riche- 
lieu and  Mazarin  were  absorbed  in  foreign  politics, 
and  gave  little  attention  to  questions  of  duties  or  im- 
portations. The  tariff  on  goods  entering  France  was 
heavy  on  some  articles  and  light  on  others ;  but  at 
the  period  of  Mazarin 's  death,  the  duties  were  ad- 
justed rather  with  the  view  of  obtaining  the  greatest 
amount  of  revenue  than  from  any  definite  policy  of 
protection. 

If  Colbert  was  not  the  originator  of  protective  the- 
ories in  France,  still  less  was  he  the  creator  of  her 
manufacturing  industries.  Doubtless  he  did  much  to 
stimulate  them,  but  the  manufactures  of  France  had 
^   Anciennes  lois  frarn;;ai'ies,  xiv.  241. 


COLBERT,  103 

been  important  before  the  Edwards  began  to  assert 
their  claims  to  the  French  throne.  The  cloths  of 
France  were  sold  in  the  East  in  the  days  of  the  cru- 
saders. By  the  thirteenth  century,  the  knives  and 
leather  of  Rouen  found  a  market  from  Scotland  to 
Sicily.  The  cutlery  and  the  jewelry  of  Languedoc 
were  known  over  all  of  western  Europe.  Under 
Louis  XI.  the  manufacture  of  silk  goods  was  estab- 
lished, and  in  the  time  of  Richelieu  forty  thousand 
people  in  Touraine  alone  earned  their  livelihood  by 
this  industry.  Many  of  the  trades  which  furnish 
articles  of  luxury  and  of  beauty  reached  a  great  de- 
velopment under  Francis  I.  and  Catherine  de  Medici, 
The  influence  of  the  Renaissance  was  felt  in  the  artis- 
tic work  of  France  almost  as  much  as  in  that  of  Italy. 
Copper  and  bronze  wares,  furniture,  plate,  and  pot- 
tery were  made  with  a  perfection  which  still  excites 
admiration.  Catherine  established  at  Orleans  manu- 
factures of  carpets  and  of  silk  stockings.  At  Nimes 
fine  serges  were  made,  laces  at  Senlis,  and  morocco 
goods  at  La  Rochelle.  Under  Henry  IV.  mulberry- 
trees  for  silkworms  were  planted  extensively  in  south- 
ern France.  Workmen  came  from  Italy  to  assist  in 
developing  the  manufacture  of  glass.  Manufacto- 
ries were  started  of  crapes,  satins,  laces,  and  dam- 
ask. The  manufactories  of  paper  in  Angoumois  were 
said  to  have  been  the  largest  in  the  world,  until  an 
injudicious  impost  checked  their  prosperity.^  In  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  industries  of 
France,  though  insignificant  if  contrasted  with  those 
of  to-day,  were  very  considerable  when  compared  with 
those  of  other  nations  at  that  period.  Colbert  him- 
self declared  that  in  1620  the  wools  of  England  and 
^  Etat  de  la  France :  Rapport  sur  Limoges. 


104  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

of  Spain  were  manufactured  into  cloths  in  France, 
and  that  Marseilles  controlled  the  trade  of  the  Med- 
iterranean.^ 

French  industry  was  less  prosperous  when  Colbert 
assumed  office,  but  the  explanation  for  this  was  found 
in  the  condition  of  the  country.  For  ahnost  thirty 
years  France  had  been  engaged  in  war  without  inter- 
mission. The  evils  of  this  long  struggle  had  been 
aggravated  by  the  disturbances  of  the  Fronde ;  the 
fields  had  been  ravaged  alike  by  foreign  and  by  do- 
mestic soldiers ;  ruinous  taxation  had  accompanied  the 
other  calamities  of  war ;  the  manufactures  of  France 
were  affected  by  the  same  causes  that  had  distressed  the 
whole  nation.  Though  depressed,  they  were  still  con- 
siderable. Not  only  did  they  supply  domestic  con- 
sumption to  a  large  extent,  but  French  wares  of  many 
varieties,  linen  goods,  serges,  hats,  gloves,  woolen  and 
silk  stockings,  were  exported.^  The  exports  of  French 
goods  into  Holland  and  England  were  estimated  at 
80,000,000  livres,  a  large  amount  for  that  period.^ 
Brandies  and  wines  in  large  quantities  were  also  sent 
into  these  and  other  countries;  and  when  the  crops 
were  good,  wheat  was  an  article  of  export. 

The  manufacturing  industries  of  France  were  dear 
to  Colbert,  and  in  every  way  he  sought  to  foster  them, 
but  it  is  questionable  whether  his  judgment  equaled 
his  zeal.  The  fundamental  article  of  Colbert's  com- 
mercial creed  was  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  is 
measured  by  the  amount  of  precious  metals  which  it 
possesses.  To  this  tenet  he  constantly  refers,  on  it 
his  entire  system  was  based.     "  We  shall  all  agree  on 

1  Rapport  de  1663. 

2  Adresse  des  six  corps  des  marchandSf  1654. 
«  Mem.  de  Jean  de  Witt,  vi.  182. 


COLBERT,  105 

this  principle,"  he  writes,  "  that  it  is  the  abundance  of 
money  in  a  state  which  alone  makes  the  difference  in 
its  greatness  and  in  its  power."  ^  In  1663,  he  gave,  as 
the  reasons  for  the  decline  of  French  commerce,  war 
and  the  facility  with  which  merchants  were  allowed  to 
send  money  out  of  the  kingdom.  "  A  great  deal  of 
money  is  going  out  of  the  kingdom,"  he  said,  "  and 
none  is  coming  in."  ^  It  followed  naturally  from  this 
theory  that  he  regarded  any  profit  gained  by  a  for- 
eigner from  a  sale  of  products  in  France  as  necessarily 
a  loss  to  that  country.  There  was  an  aggregate 
amount  of  wealth,  and  what  was  taken  by  one  state 
was  lost  by  another.^  He  begrudged  every  penny 
made  by  the  English  or  Dutch  traders  as  one  that 
might  have  been  obtained  for  France.  In  conformity 
with  these  views,  he  frequently  endeavored  to  prevent 
the  export  of  gold  from  the  country.  Edicts  of  this 
nature  formed  a  part  of  the  mediaeval  jurisprudence 
of  France.  They  were  renewed  under  Colbert,  and 
under  his  successors,  who  adopted  his  errors  though 
they  imitated  few  of  his  virtues.  Such  edicts  could 
not  be  enforced,  and  Colbert  was  obliged  to  recognize 
this  fact.  His  subordinates  were  told  that  they  should 
wink  at  the  violations  if  they  were  not  too  numerous. 
A  merchant  of  Marseilles  might  send  gold  to  settle 
his  balances  in  Italy  or  the  East,  with  a  strong  proba- 
bility that  it  would  not  be  confiscated  by  the  state ; 
but  such  edicts  were  occasionally  enforced,  and  they 

^  Mem.  sur  la  Commerce^  August  3,  1664  ;  Lettres  de  Colbert, 
ii.  263.  This  Memoire  is  in  Colbert's  own  handwriting.  See, 
also,  Memoire  of  1663,  and  innumerable  places  in  his  letters  and 
official  documents. 

2  Rapport,  de  1663. 

*  Lettres,  etc.,  de  Colbert,  ii.  270. 


106  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

were  held  over  the  commercial  community  as  a  perpet- 
ual menace.^ 

From  increased  manufactures  the  minister  antici- 
pated a  twofold  advantage :  they  would  furnish  em- 
ployment for  many  laborers,  and  they  would  keep  in 
the  country  the  gold  which  would  otherwise  be  used 
in  paying  foreigners  for  their  wares.^  He  endeavored, 
therefore,  to  foster  them,  both  by  government  aid  and 
by  tariffs  which  should  exclude  foreign  goods.  He 
gave  assistance  to  industries  that  already  existed,  and 
new  ones  were  established.  Manufactories  of  car- 
pets, tapestries,  glass,  point  lace,  tar,  and  other  arti- 
cles were  started  in  various  cities.^  To  many  of  these 
enterprises  the  government  furnished  money,  to  many 
of  them  it  granted  monopolies  of  the  goods  which 
they  made.  Skilled  laborers  were  obtained  from 
other  countries,  who  could  impart  the  secrets  of  their 
trades.  Glass-workers  were  brought  from  Murano, 
cloth  manufacturers  from  Holland,  artisans  from  Sax- 
ony versed  in  the  smelting  of  tin.  The  minister  gave 
his  personal  attention  to  many  of  these  industries. 
He  corresponded  with  the  managers,  advised,  exhorted, 
and  berated.  He  was  rejoiced  at  their  success,  and 
filled  with  dismay  and  indignation  when  they  did  not 

^  LettreSy  etc.,  de  Colhert,  ii.  179  et  passim.  The  penalty  for 
sending  away  gold  was  nominally  death. 

2  Mem.  au  roi,  1669  ;  Lettres,  ii.  713  et  passim.  Colbert  re- 
garded the  trade  with  Spain  as  the  most  important,  because 
goods  sold  in  that  country  were  largely  paid  for  in  gold.  —  In-^ 
struction  pour  le  Comte  de  Vauguyon,  September  29,  1681.  Spain 
was  so  poor  a  country  that  it  had  nothing  with  which  it  could 
pay  except  the  gold  received  from  its  colonies.  It  may  safely 
be  assumed  that  its  trade  was  not  one  quarter  as  important  to 
France  as  that  of  either  Holland  or  England. 

3  Mem.  au  roi,  1673,  and  letters  passim. 


COLBERT.  107 

realize  his  anticipations.^  The  most  of  these  industries 
were  prosperous  for  a  while,  but  this  prosperity  was 
certainly  to  some  extent  obtained  at  the  cost  of  the 
community.  To  many  of  the  projectors  of  new  enter- 
prises Colbert  granted  monopolies  of  ten,  twenty,  or 
thirty  years.^  Later  in  his  career  he  recognized  the 
fact  that  he  had  granted  exclusive  privileges  too  lav- 
ishly, and  that  the  benefits  for  which  he  hoped  had 
not  always  resulted  from  them. 

Often  an  industry  that  before  had  been  practiced 
on  a  small  scale  by  many  was  consolidated  in  the 
hands  of  a  single  monopolist,  whose  gains  were  ob- 
tained by  making  purchasers  pay  more  dearly,  A 
monopoly  for  ten  years  was  granted  in  1665  on  the 
manufacture  of  point  lace,  which  enabled  the  proprie- 
tors to  pay  thirty  per  cent,  dividends.^  But  the  min- 
ister had  to  protect  the  establishment  against  riots 
of  the  working-people  of  Alen^on,  who  claimed  that 
8,000  persons  were  forced  to  abandon  the  craft  by 
which  they  had  long  earned  their  livelihood.^  The  girls 
at  Auxerre  complained  likewise  that  they  were  forced 
to  work  in  the  new  manufactory,  which  had  received 
a  monopoly,  for  less  than  they  had  earned  working 
for  themselves   at  their  own   homes.^      In  1679,  in 

1  There  are  innumerable  letters  of  Colbert  discussing  the  con- 
dition of  various  industries,  what  they  should  do  and  what  they 
should  not.  Many  of  them  are  found  in  the  volumes  of  his  cor- 
respondence which  have  been  printed,  and  in  Correspondance 
administrative  sous  Louis  XIV.,  t.  iii. 

2  Edict,  August,  1664.  A  monopoly  of  a  certain  kind  of 
carpet  for  thirty  years,  etc. 

'  Savary,  Dictionnaire  du  Commerce. 

*  Superintendent  at  Alen^on  to  Colbert,  September  7, 14, 1665, 
et  passim. 

^  Superintendent  of  Burgundy  to  Colbert,  November  4,  5, 
1667,  et  passim. 


108         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

answer  to  an  offer  to  establish  a  new  enterprise  on  re- 
ceiving a  monopoly,  the  minister  replied  declining 
the  proposition,  and  saying  that  it  was  no  longer  the 
policy  of  the  government  to  grant  such  favors  except 
in  extraordinary  cases.^ 

Many  of  the  manufactures  thus  started  under  Col- 
bert's protection  received  large  sums  from  the  treas- 
ury. What  was  given  to  new  enterprises  with  the 
one  hand  was  taken  from  the  taxpayer  with  the  other. 
Not  only  did  such  assistance  increase  taxation,  but 
those  who  received  it  came  to  rely  on  the  aid  of  the 
government,  and  did  not  establish  themselves  on  an 
independent  footing.  The  minister  found  that  the 
more  he  gave,  the  more  was  asked.  "  The  merchants," 
he  wrote,  in  1671,  "  do  not  try  to  surmount  by  their 
own  industry  the  difficulties  which  they  encounter,  so 
long  as  they  hope  to  find  easier  means  through  the 
authority  of  the  king.  They  seek  to  obtain  advantages 
of  every  sort,  and  declare  that,  unless  aided,  their 
manufactures  will  be  ruined."  ^  Many  of  the  indus- 
tries which  had  been  established  by  the  aid  of  the 
government  could  only  be  kept  in  existence  by  the 
same  means.  Left  to  struggle  with  the  ordinary  laws 
of  trade,  they  were  forced  to  succumb.  Forty  years 
later,  we  find  Louis  XIV.  giving  a  pension  to  some 
one  who  had  undertaken  the  manufacture  of  laces  at 
the  royal  instance,  without  success  ;  and  an  establish- 
ment of  serges,  which  had  started  with  the  assistance 
of  Colbert,  was  still  demanding  and  receiving  help 
to  keep  it  in  existence.^  "  Never  have  manufactures 
decayed  so  fast  in  the  kingdom,"  wrote  the  superin- 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  ii.  715. 

3  lb,  ii.  633,  October  2,  1671. 

'  Archives  des  Finances  :  Decisions  du  roi,  1708-1723. 


COLBERT,  109 

tendent  from  Rouen,  in  1685,  "  as  since  we  have  en- 
deavored to  increase  them  by  the  interference  of  the 
government."  ^  A  year  later,  the  comptroller  declared 
that  it  was  impossible  to  establish  new  industries,  and 
they  must  take  steps  to  assist  those  which  were  then  on 
the  point  of  expiring.^  From  many  quarters  came 
demands  for  aid  to  save  establishments  which  were 
sinking  into  hopeless  decay.^ 

Colbert  was  not  content  with  aiding  individual  en- 
terprises ;  he  wished  to  assist  the  entire  body  of  French 
industry  by  measures  for  its  protection.  The  first 
general  tariff  of  Colbert  was  issued  in  1664.  It  did 
not  materially  alter  the  duties  which  already  existed, 
and  it  greatly  simplified  the  multiplicity  of  conflicting 
duties  and  tolls  which  checked  the  commerce  of  France. 
It  was  unquestionably  beneficial  to  the  country.  In 
this  as  in  all  his  legislation,  Colbert  insisted  upon 
one  advantage  for  the  manufacturer.  No  duties  were 
allowed  to  fall  on  the  raw  material  which  they  had 
occasion  to  use.  Prohibitory  duties  on  manufactured 
articles  and  freedom  for  raw  material  constituted  the 
theory  of  protection  that  was  advocated  by  him  and 
his  successors ;  it  was  this  which  they  sought  to  carry 
out,  subject  to  the  irregularities  resulting  from  the 
constant  and  pressing  needs  of  the  treasury.^ 

In  1667  a  second  tariff  was  adopted,  which  was  de- 
cidedly protective  in  its  character.  The  duties  were 
raised  on  everything,  and  were  often  doubled  or  trebled. 

1  Intendant  de  Rouen  k  Con.  G^n.,  October  5,  1685. 

2  Correspondance  des  Controleurs  Genereaux,  i.  545. 
8  lb.  passim, 

*  That  this  was  the  established  policy  of  France  is  stated  by 
the  Comptroller  General,  in  1686,  almost  in  those  words.  —  Cor^ 
respondance  des  Con.  Gen.y  i.  168. 


110         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

On  many  articles  they  were  prohibitory,  and  Colbert's 
purpose  was  now  to  exclude  from  the  French  markets 
many,  and  indeed  most,  of  the  goods  which  were  pur- 
chased from  other  nations.  This  tariff  called  forth  a 
vigorous  protest  from  the  Dutch  and  English  mer- 
chants ;  it  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  ill-will  of  Hol- 
land toward  France  which  resulted  in  the  Triple  Alli- 
ance and  the  war  of  1672.  Both  of  these  nations 
threatened  to  retaliate  by  prohibiting  the  importation 
of  French  wines  and  brandies.  Colbert  insisted  that 
they  would  not  dare  to  resort  to  such  measures,  but  at 
last  these  articles  were  either  prohibited,  or  subjected 
to  greatly  increased  duties.^  The  minister  consoled 
himself  as  best  he  could.  The  consumption  of  wine 
in  England  would  be  increased  by  the  higher  duties, 
he  declared,  "  because  we  find  that  wines  are  consumed 
in  the  greatest  abundance  in  places  where  they  are 
the  dearest."  ^ 

Experience  did  not  confirm  this  novel  commercial 
theory.  The  manufacture  of  wine,  then  as  now  one 
of  the  most  important  in  France,  was  not  prosperous 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
diminished  trade  with  other  countries  was  universally 
assigned  as  the  cause.^  The  wars  of  the  king,  and  the 
warfare  of  commerce  instituted  by  the  minister,  united 
in  reducing  the  exports  of  France. 

In  the  absence  of  statistics,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain 

1  Colbert  to  Pomponne,  ambassador  in  Holland,  September 
27,  1669,  and  letters  passim. 

2  Colbert  to  Pomponne,  March  28, 1670.  "  Besides,"  he  adds, 
"  it  is  difficult,  and  indeed  impossible,  for  the  English  to  abstain 
from  drinking  our  wines." 

2  See  reports  from  the  provinces  in  iktat  de  la  France,  1698, 
and  the  correspondence  of  the  Comptrollers  General  from  1683 
to  1699. 


COLBERT,  111 

the  exact  effect  of  Colbert's  policy  upon  the  manufac- 
turing industries  of  France.  Even  in  our  days  it  is 
not  easy  to  state  the  exact  results  of  economic  legisla- 
tion. But  the  belief  which  is  often  entertained  that 
Colbert's  administration  was  the  beginning  of  an  era 
of  great  development  for  French  industries  is  not  sup- 
ported by  the  facts.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
manufactures  of  France  were  important  long  before 
he  systematized  the  protective  theories  of  legislation. 
During  the  first  years  of  his  administration,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  country  was  certainly  flourishing.  With 
a  fertile  soil  and  an  industrious  people,  France  was 
sure  of  a  reasonable  prosperity,  except  when  it  suf- 
fered too  severely  from  the  ravages  of  war  or  the 
ravages  of  the  tax-gatherer.  By  the  order  which  he 
restored  to  the  finances,  Colbert  lightened  the  burden 
of  taxation.  For  eleven  years  the  country  enjoyed  al- 
most unbroken  peace.  A  nominal  war  with  England, 
and  the  occupation  of  some  of  the  undefended  posses- 
sions of  Spain,  did  not  check  the  general  prosperity. 

This  condition  of  affairs  was  short-lived.  Long  be- 
fore the  end  of  Colbert's  ministry,  the  condition  of 
trade  was  far  from  satisfactory.  The  weight  of  taxa- 
tion, the  extravagance  of  the  king,  the  wars  with  Spain 
and  Holland,  all  had  some  effect  in  producing  this 
result.  The  fact,  however,  clearly  appears  that  the 
policy  of  Colbert  was  not  successful  in  building  up 
great  manufactures.  The  industrial  condition  of 
France  was  no  better  in  1683,  when  he  died,  than 
in  1664,  when  his  first  tariff  was  adopted. 

Such  a  result  cannot  be  attributed  entirely  to  the 
ambition  and  the  extravagance  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
miserable  condition  of  France  at  the  close  of  his  reign 
is  well  known.     It  is  not  so  familiar,  but  it  is  quite  as 


112         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

certain,  that  long  before  that  time  the  artificial  impulse 
which  Colbert  gave  to  manufacturing  industries  had 
become  inoperative  in  producing  increased  wealth  or 
prosperity.  The  statistics  at  the  time  he  died,  and 
during  the  years  immediately  preceding  and  following, 
throw  light  upon  this  question.  In  1683,  the  proceeds 
of  taxation  exceeded  the  amount  collected  in  1663  by 
about  twenty  per  cent.,  and  a  considerable  portion  of 
this  excess  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  imposts  were 
farmed  to  better  advantage.  If  France  had  been 
prosperous  during  Colbert's  administration,  if  her  in- 
dustries had  been  flourishing,  if  she  had  developed 
from  a  poor  agricultural  country  into  a  rich  manufac- 
turing state,  such  an  increase  in  taxation  would  not 
have  been  oppressive.  To  a  large  extent,  it  would 
have  been  met  by  the  natural  growth  in  revenue  when 
a  people  is  gaining  in  wealth.  In  1683,  France  had 
enjoyed  five  years  of  entire  peace.  The  war  with 
Holland  that  ended  in  1678  had  not  been  a  severe 
strain  on  her  resources.  The  Edict  of  Nantes  had 
not  yet  been  repealed.  Yet  we  have  Colbert's  own 
statement  that  the  country  was  not  able  to  bear  the 
burden  of  taxation,  that  the  peasantry  were  miserable, 
and  that  the  condition  of  trade  was  poor.  All  the 
letters  from  the  provinces  were  full  of  the  misery  of 
the  people,  he  said ;  even  the  bishops  wrote  about 
it.^  The  official  correspondence  at  this  period,  and 
immediately  after  it,  bears  witness  to  the  same  state 
of  affairs.  In  Rouen,  the  manufacturers  of  cloth  fared 
poorly,  and  the  laborers  complained  of  the  wages 
which  they  received.^  At  Poitiers,  trade  was  de- 
pressed, and  house  rent  was  very  low.     At  Limoges, 

1  Mem.  de  Colbert,  1680,  1681,  1683. 

a  Intendant  of  Rouen,  February  20,  1680. 


COLBERT.  113 

the  manufacture  of  coarse  cloths  was  almost  at  an  end  ; 
the  industry  of  point  laces  in  Auvergne  was  not  pros- 
perous ;  the  manufacturers  of  Soissons  and  the  mer- 
chants of  Paris  asked  the  king  to  come  to  their  assist- 
ance and  revive  their  trade.^  The  population  had 
diminished  apart  from  any  emigration  of  Protestants.^ 
Such  reports  as  these  show  that  before  the  exhausting 
wars  of  the  latter  part  of  Louis's  reign,  and  both  be- 
fore and  immediately  after  Colbert's  death,  the  indus- 
tries of  France  were  far  from  being  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  "  Never  have  the^  complaints  of  the  misery 
of  the  people  been  more  just,"  wrote  the  Comptroller 
General  in  1686  ;  "  one  needs  only  to  visit  some  of 
the  provinces  to  be  convinced  of  it."  ^ 

The  commercial  policy  of  Colbert  was  continued 
after  his  death,  but  we  find  no  signs  of  increasing  pros- 
perity. French  industries,  which  have  been  thought 
to  owe  their  first  great  development  to  his  influence, 
continued  to  diminish  instead  of  increase  for  more 
than  thirty  years  after  he  died.  The  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  did  not  change  the  condition  of 
the  country  from  one  of  prosperity  to  one  of  depres- 
sion ;  it  merely  aggravated  evils  which  already  ex- 
isted.    The  trouble  with  the  French  manufactures  was 

1  Intendant,  Poitiers,  March  26, 1684  ;  Limoges,  July  22,1687; 
Auvergne,  July,  1688  ;  Soissons,  September  27,  1688.  All  of 
these  complaints,  and  very  many  more  of  the  same  nature,  are 
to  be  found  in  the  correspondence  of  the  superintendents  with 
the  Comptroller  General.  See,  also,  Mem.  sur  le  commerce,  pre- 
sented by  merchants  of  Paris,  1685.  In  1691,  an  English  trav- 
eler, going  from  Calais  to  Paris,  says  :  "The  fields  are  unculti- 
vated, the  villages  unpeopled,  the  houses  dropping  to  decay."  — 
Burton's  Diary. 

2  Mem.  sur  le  miser e  du  peuple,  1687. 

*  Correspondance  des  Controleurs  Generaux,  i.  545. 


114         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

not  a  lack  of  workmen,  but  a  lack  of  demand.  The 
exports  to  other  countries  were  greatly  diminished. 
The  farmers  were  too  poor  to  be  large  consumers.  A 
barefooted  peasant,  clothed  in  rags  and  living  on 
chestnuts  and  black  bread,  had  no  money  with  which 
to  purchase  either  the  luxuries  or  the  comforts  of  life. 

Complaints  of  diminished  trade  and  declining  in- 
dustries came  from  every  quarter  during  the  last 
twenty  years  of  the  century.^  In  1698,  the  superin- 
tendents of  the  different  provinces  were  ordered  to 
make  detailed  reports  of  their  condition.  This  work 
was  often  done  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  and  the  sta- 
tistics are  not  as  full  and  trustworthy  as  we  could 
desire.  From  them,  however,  one  can  get  an  approx- 
imate idea  of  the  condition  of  France  before  the 
beginning  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

The  country  contained,  as  it  long  had  done,  many 
industries  of  different  kinds,  but  their  condition,  with 
few  exceptions,  was  one  of  decay.  In  Abbeville,  the 
manufactories  of  cloth  established  in  1 665  were  still  in 
existence,  but  they  gave  their  workmen  beggarly  wages, 
and  a  good  artisan  received  no  more  than  three  cents 
a  day.^  Alen^on  suffered  because  no  market  could  be 
found  for  its  goods,  and  Poitou  from  the  same  cause. 
In  Touraine,  where  40,000  people  had  been  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  silk  under  Richelieu,  there  were 
now  but  4,000.  The  manufacture  of  cloth  in  that  prov- 
ince dated  from  before  the  time  of  Louis  XI. ;  the  pro- 
duction was  now  only  one  quarter  of  what  it  had  been, 
and  the  tanneries  had  suffered  a  still  greater  decline. 
In  Maine,  the  industry  of  coarse  linen,  which  dated 

^  Correspondance  des  Con.  Gen.,  passim. 

2  Etat  de  La  France,  ii.  175-177.  This  would  be  no  more  than 
fifteen  cents  a  day  now. 


COLBERT.  115 

back  to  1248  and  had  once  employed  20,000  work- 
men, had  only  10,000  in  1692  and  but  6,000  in  1698. 
At  Lyons,  where  there  were  once  18,000  looms  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  silk,  there  were  now  but 
6,000.  Brittany  complained  that  the  English  and 
Dutch  had  learned  to  make  various  wares  which  they 
had  formerly  bought  in  that  province,  and  trade  suf- 
fered from  the  loss  of  foreign  custom.^  Languedoc 
and  the  city  of  Marseilles  seem  to  have  been  the  most 
prosperous  sections  of  France.^  Less  opulent  neigh- 
bors looked  with  envying  eyes,  and  complained  that 
all  the  rich  men  were  to  be  found  in  Marseilles.^  That 
city  was  a  free  port.  Languedoc  enjoyed  the  advan- 
tage of  local  states  to  regulate  its  affairs,  and  from  its 
position  as  a  foreign  province  it  was  to  some  extent 
outside  the  commercial  system  of  France.  In  a  time 
of  general  depression  Languedoc  was  prosperous,  and 
the  superintendent  reported  that  the  only  demand  of 
the  population  was  for  still  greater  freedom  of  inter- 
course, and  a  further  reduction  of  both  export  and 
import  duties.^ 

In  1700,  after  the  system  of  Colbert  had  been  in 
force  for  over  thirty  years,  a  council  of  commerce  was 
organized,  to  advise  the  government  as  to  the  best 
measures  to  be  adopted  in  view  of  the  depressed  con- 
dition of  trade. 

The  principal  cities  of  France  were  represented  by 
the  leading  merchants,  men  selected  by  their  fellows, 
of  large  experience  in  business,  and  certainly  compe- 
tent to  give  an  intelligent  opinion.     They  were  not  apt 

1  Elat  de  la  France,  iv.  105,  147,  375,  382  ;  v.  489,  etc. 

2  11).,  V.  281  et  seq. 

8  Correspondance  des  Controleurs  Generaux^  i.  204,  256. 
*  Etat  de  la  France,  v.  445. 


116         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

to  criticise  the  policy  of  the  government,  to  which  their 
reports  were  made,  unless  they  were  convinced  that  it 
was  wrong.  All  agreed  that  the  manufactures  of 
France  were  in  a  very  depressed  condition,  and  one 
only,  the  deputy  of  Rouen,  approved  of  the  system 
of  Colbert.^  The  purchase  of  foreign  goods,  he  de- 
clared, drew  money  from  the  state,  and  should  be 
prevented.  The  others  were  all  of  the  opinion  that 
excessive  tariffs  had  been  injurious  to  French  inter- 
ests. The  deputy  of  Dunkirk  insisted  that  the  exor- 
bitant duties  that  had  been  imposed  on  foreign  goods, 
while  profiting  a  few  manufacturers,  had  been  inju- 
rious to  the  community.  The  people  of  La  Rochelle 
complained  that  the  duties  on  imports  from  Portugal 
had  cost  them  their  market  for  the  cloths  which  they 
had  formerly  sold  in  great  quantities  to  that  kingdom. 
The  representative  of  the  great  manufacturing  city 
of  Lyons  claimed  that,  as  a  result  of  the  high  tariff, 
France,  to  a  large  extent,  had  lost  her  foreign  mar- 
kets. "  We  must  abandon  the  maxim  of  M.  Colbert," 
he  said,  "  who  claimed  that  France  could  do  without 
the  rest  of  the  world."  The  delegate  from  Bordeaux 
declared  that  the  excessive  duties  on  foreign  goods  had 
checked  the  market  for  French  products,  and  that  the 
entire  period  since  1667  had  been  marked  by  frequent 
failures.  The  reports  from  Lille,  Bayonne,  and 
Nantes  were  to  the  same  effect.  "  Liberty,"  says  the 
deputy  of  Nantes,  in  language  that  might  come  from 
a  member  of  the  Cobden  Chib,  "  is  the  life  of  com- 
merce."    Such  reports  show  beyond  contradiction  that 

1  These  reports,  in  MSS.,  are  now  in  the  Bibliotb^qne  Na- 
tionale.  Copious  extracts  from  them  have  been  published  by  M. 
Clement  and  M.  Dareste  de  la  Chavanne.  Some  of  them  are 
also  found  in  Correspondance  des  Controleurs  Gemraux, 


COLBERT.  117 

in  1701,  before  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  had 
begun,  the  commerce  and  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries of  France  were,  to  use  the  words  of  the  deputy  of 
La  Rochelle,  in  a  condition  of  extreme  depression.^ 

The  amount  of  exports  also  fails  to  show  any  large 
development  in  commerce  as  a  result  of  the  system  of 
Colbert.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  trustworthy  figures, 
but  the  exports  in  1716  are  stated  at  118,000,000 
livres  ;  a  figure  little  if  at  all  exceeding  their  amount 
fifty  years  before.  Seventy  years  later  they  were  five 
times  as  large.^  A  careful  study  of  the  condition  of 
France  shows  that  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  not  a  period  of  great  industrial  or  com- 
mercial development.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
especially  in  the  latter  part  of  it,  the  wealth  of  the 
country  increased  largely  and  rapidly.  The  tendency 
towards  greater  freedom  in  thought,  the  impatience  of 
innumerable  restraints,  and  the  jealousy  of  countless 
privileges,  which  at  last  overthrew  the  old  regime, 
modified  also  the  commercial  systems  of  France.  A 
marked  development  in  business  enterprise,  and  in 
industries  of  every  kind,  was  the  result.  It  is  to  the 
spirit  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  not  to  the 
systems  of  Colbert,  that  we  must  attribute  the  prog- 
ress of  France  as  a  commercial  and  a  manufacturing 
nation. 

1  Rapport  du  depute  de  La  Rochelle,  "  On  ne  s'estonnera  pas 
de  I'extreme  abaissement  ou  il  se  trouvait  reduit.  On  con- 
viendra  que  de  f'ausses  vueus  en  sont  la  cause,  et  qu'ayant 
pr^tendu  nous  passer  de  toutes  les  autres  nations,  tandis  qu'au 
contraire  elles  peuvent  se  passer  de  nous,  nous  nous  sommes 
fort  abus^z." 

2  Arnould,  Balance  du  commerce  ;  Levasseur,  Classes  Ouvrieres. 
The  exports  and  imports  increased  from  212,000,000  livres  in 
1716  to  1,153,000,000  in  1787. 


118         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  industries  which  the  minister  endeavored  to 
protect  he  was  resolved  also  to  direct.  The  guilds  of 
the  Middle  Ages  had  regulated  in  the  minutest  details 
the  manner  in  which  their  various  trades  should  be 
practiced,  and  in  the  efficacy  of  such  measures  Col- 
bert was  a  firm  believer.  "  The  only  way  to  have  our 
manufactures  perfect,  and  to  establish  good  order  in 
commerce,  is  to  have  them  all  uniform,"  he  wrote.^ 
He  deplored  the  greed  of  the  merchants  who,  for  an 
insignificant  personal  gain,  would  neglect  provisions 
that  were  for  the  general  good.^ 

Forty-four  edicts  in  all,  regulating  industries  of  dif- 
ferent kinds,  were  issued  during  his  administration. 
They  prescribed  the  methods  to  be  employed,  and 
the  quality  of  goods  to  be  produced,  in  the  most  mi- 
nute detail.  Three  hundred  and  seventeen  sections 
instructed  the  dyers  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
must  dye  their  wares.  The  manufacturers  of  cloths 
and  of  silks  were  required  to  make  them  according  to 
appointed  methods.  The  cloths  must  possess  a  certain 
weight,  they  must  be  of  a  certain  length  and  breadth.^ 
A  violation  of  these  innumerable  regulations  was  se- 
verely punished.  A  manufacturer  who  had  received  an 
order  from  London  or  Geneva  for  goods  of  a  lighter 
weight  or  a  different  pattern  than  was  allowed  by  the 
ordinance,  and  who  attempted  to  fill  it,  might  find 

1  Colbert  to  Barillon,  March  7,  1670. 

2  Colbert  to  superintendent  of  Languedoc,  January  28,  1682. 
"  These  merchants  want  entire  liberty  to  change  the  length  and 
fabric  of  their  garments,  which  will  lead  to  the  complete  ruin  of 
manufactures." 

2  Colbert  to  superintendent  of  Amiens,  September  17,  1682. 
Remarks  as  to  the  efficacy  of  such  provisions,  and  complaints 
of  their  frequent  violation,  occur  constantly  in  Colbert's  corre- 
spondence. 


COLBERT.  119 

himself  with  his  feet  in  the  stocks  as  a  reward  for  his 
enterprise.  The  artisan  who  by  accident  had  made 
a  piece  of  cloth  a  few  inches  shorter  or  longer  than 
the  size  prescribed,  or  who  applied  some  new  device 
by  which  the  work  could  be  better  or  more  quickly 
done,  might  be  exposed  in  the  public  square,  and  con- 
sider his  offense  while  the  boys  threw  rotten  eggs  at 
him.^ 

Ordinances  of  this  nature,  like  other  regulations  of 
paternal  governments,  are  sure  to  be  violated.  They 
excited  constant  hostility  in  those  in  whose  interest 
they  were  supposed  to  be  framed.  Such  opposition 
irritated  Colbert  instead  of  instructing  him.  He  in- 
sisted the  more  that  the  prosperity  of  French  industry 
could  be  assured  only  if  goods  were  made  in  undeviat- 
ing  fashions  and  patterns,  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation. A  policy  which  Colbert  had  adopted  naturally 
seemed  of  equal  importance  to  his  successors.  Two 
hundred  and  thirty  edicts  of  this  character  were  pub- 
lished between  Colbert's  death  and  1739. 

Even  though  often  violated,  these  regulations  checked 
industrial  progress  ;  they  prevented  improvements  in 
appliances,  they  increased  the  cost  of  goods ;  and  pur- 
chasers from  other  countries  resorted  to  markets  where 
they  could  buy  what  they  desired,  of  newer  patterns, 
and  for  cheaper  prices.  It  is  probable  that  interfer- 
ence such  as  this,  actuated  by  the  best  of  motives, 
checked  the  industries  of  France  as  much  as  the  wars 
of  Louis  XIV.  An  amiable  busybody  often  does  more 
harm  than  a  selfish  tyrant.  A  century  later,  an  eye- 
witness declared  that  he  had  seen  one  hundred  pieces 
of  cloth  destroyed  in  a  morning,  because  some  thread 
was  lacking,  some  margin  unequal,  or  some  dye  un- 
1  Instruction  of  March  18,  1671. 


120         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

satisfactory.^  It  was  not  until  1779  that  the  govern- 
ment  abandoned  its  long  endeavor,  and  allowed  manu- 
facturers to  make  their  goods  to  suit  themselves  and 
the  tastes  of  their  customers. 

The  system  which  Colbert  adopted  in  reference  to 
agriculture  interfered  with  its  freedom  as  much  as  the 
means  by  which  he  sought  to  develop  manufactures. 
The  state  took  the  place  of  the  laws  of  trade,  and 
with  small  success. 

The  free  exportation  of  grain  had  often  been  pre- 
vented by  former  governments,  and  this  policy  Col- 
bert enforced  with  a  degree  of  vigor  that  had  been 
hitherto  unknown.  During  fourteen  years  of  his  ad- 
ministration we  find  no  less  than  twenty-nine  edicts 
regulating  the  exportation  of  wheat.  By  thirteen  it 
was  allowed,  subject  to  varying  duties ;  by  eight  it 
was  allowed  free  of  any  duty ;  and  by  eight  it  was 
absolutely  prohibited.  The  peasant  when  he  sowed 
his  grain,  the  merchant  when  he  indulged  in  the  dan- 
gerous speculation  of  buying  it,  had  no  certainty  as 
to  whether  their  market  would  be  free  or  restricted. 
It  was  not  the  actual  condition  of  the  crop,  but  th-e 
impression  tliat  might  be  produced  by  the  reports  of 
ill-informed  officials,  that  decided  their  fate.  In  1679, 
complaints  came  from  Provence  at  the  exportation  of 
wheat,  while  Languedoc  demanded  its  continuance. 
It  was  hard  to  reach  a  conclusion  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, wrote  Colbert,  but  if  the  superintendents 
would  give  further  details,  the  king  would  decide  what 
was  for  the  real  interest  of  both  provinces.^  Such 
questions  were  constantly  submitted  to  the  omniscient 
judgment  of  the  government.     The  results  of  this  sys* 

1  Mem.  de  La  Platien^  1778. 

2  Colbert  to  siiperiutendent  of  Limoges,  April  13, 1679. 


COLBERT.  121 

tern  of  perpetual  interference  were  far  from  satisfae- 
tory.  The  soil  of  France,  even  with  defective  tillage, 
was  capable  of  raising  more  than  enough  wheat  to 
supply  her  own  people  ;  but  in  this  rich  agricultural 
country  a  dearth  occurred  on  an  average  every  three 
years. ^  The  official  reports  show  only  too  clearly  how 
often  famine  prevailed  in  a  land  which  nature  had  so 
much  favored.  In  1675,  the  inhabitants  of  Dauphiny 
had  for  their  diet  only  roots,  and  bread  made  from 
acorns,  and  when  this  failed  they  were  driven  to  eat 
grass  and  bark.^  In  Poitou,  in  1686,  they  had  been 
without  bread  for  two  years.^  In  1692,  seventy  thou- 
sand people  in  Limoges  were  living  on  rotten  chest- 
nuts, with  begging  as  the  only  means  of  livelihood 
lef4;  to  them>  In  Normandy,  in  1693,  the  peasants 
were  dying  of  hunger ;  convoys  of  provisions  were  at- 
tacked and  plundered  by  starving  men  and  women, 
in  whom  one  could  hardly  recognize  the  appearance 
of  humanity.  Their  misery  and  poverty  were  declared 
to  be  greater  than  could  be  imagined.^ 

While  restricting  the  sale  of  grain  did  not  secure 
abundance  for  the  consumer,  it  seriously  interfered 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  producer.  Imperfect  means 
of    transportation    rendered  it  difficult  to  move  the 

1  The  fluctuations  of  prices  were  often  sudden  and  extreme. 
At  Soissons,  for  example,  wheat  sold  at  22  crowns  the  muid  in 
1683,  and  at  46  the  next  year.  —  Cor.  des  ContrSleurs  Ge'n.y  i.  84. 
In  Languedoc,  in  1694,  it  fell  in  two  months  from  90  to  40  sons. 
—  lb.,  374.  Still  more  violent  fluctuations  occurred  in  1691, 
when  there  was  a  dearth  of  great  severity, 

2  Letter  of  Lesdigui^res,  May  29,  1675. 

8  Letter  of  superintendent  of  Poitou,  March  11,  1686.     These 
letters  are  found  in  Correspondance  des  Controleurs  Generaux. 
*  Superintendent  of  Limoges,  January  12,  1692. 
^  Superintendent  of  Normandy,  May,  1693. 


122         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

crops ;  and  when  to  this  was  added  a  succession  of 
arbitrary  edicts  by  which  the  authorities  at  Paris  in- 
terfered with  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand  in  Artois  or  Languedoc,  it  is  not  strange  that 
we  should  find  in  some  years  complaints  that  grain 
was  rotting  in  the  barns  ;  in  others  that  absolute  desti- 
tution prevailed,  and  that  food  could  not  be  had  at  any 
price.^  It  resulted,  also,  that  new  lands  which  might 
have  been  brought  under  cultivation  were  allowed  to 
lie  waste,  and  that  the  farmers  had  neither  money  nor 
energy  to  improve  the  condition  of  those  which  were 
tilled.  In  1715,  six  years'  remission  of  taxes  was  of- 
fered to  those  who  would  cultivate  the  fields  which 
had  been  abandoned.  No  such  legislation  is  now 
needed  in  France.  Seventy  years  later,  Arthur  Young 
found  that  agriculture  in  France  had  not  advanced  be- 
yond the  methods  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Indeed,  there 
is  something  pathetic  when  we  consider  how  earnestly 
Colbert  labored  for  the  public  good,  and  how  often 
he  failed  in  his  endeavors.  He  loved  the  people  as  a 
father  does  his  children.     He  wrote  the  superintend- 

1  The  correspondence  which  could  be  cited,  to  show  how  often 
these  conditions  existed,  would  fill  pages.  In  1684,  for  example, 
the  superintendent  writes  that  Provence  was  gorged  with  wheat. 
The  Duke  of  St.  Simon  had  70,000  crowns'  worth  on  hand,  and 
could  find  no  sale  for  it.  In  June,  1687,  the  superintendent 
writes  from  Poitiers  that  the  crop  of  1686  is  still  unsold.  For- 
eigners were  so  often  prevented  from  buying  that  they  would 
no  longer  purchase  even  when  the  sale  was  allowed.  In  1690, 
wheat  had  been  kept  in  the  granaries  of  Provence  for  two  years, 
and  land  was  left  uncultivated.  The  people  of  Flanders  de- 
clared that  they  would  support  the  increasing  burden  of  taxation 
with  patience,  if  only  they  could  be  allowed  to  sell  their  crops 
when  they  thought  best.  —  Letter  of  superintendent,  October  17, 
1691.  Such  complaints  alternate  with  reports  of  entire  dearth 
and  frequent  deaths  from  starvation. 


COLBERT,  123 

ents  to  notice  how  the  peasants  were  dressed,  what  sort 
of  furniture  they  bought,  and  whether  they  had  joy- 
ous festivities  at  marriages  and  fete  days.  "These 
things,"  he  added,  "  will  show  if  their  condition  is  bet- 
ter than  it  was."  ^  But  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that 
the  system  which  he  adopted  hindered  the  progress  of 
those  whose  welfare  he  so  much  desired.  Firm  in  the 
belief  that  the  government  knew  what  was  for  the 
interest  of  the  citizens  better  than  they  did  themselves, 
manufacturers  were  protected,  and  industry  and  agri- 
culture were  regulated,  until  the  manufacturer  was 
bankrupt,  the  artisan  was  starving,  and  the  peasant 
left  his  fields  untilled,  to  live  on  acorns. 

Colbert's  activity  was  exerted  in  almost  every  de- 
partment of  government.  The  navy  had  been  neg- 
lected under  Mazarin,  and  at  his  death  France  had 
but  thirty  ships  of  war.  In  1677,  the  French  navy 
consisted  of  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  ships,  and 
about  fifty  thousand  men.^  The  same  attention  was 
given  to  increasing  the  carrying  trade  of  France. 
Colbert  encouraged  the  construction  of  ships  at  home 
and  the  purchase  of  them  abroad,  that  the  profits  of 
carrying  might  in  future  be  enjoyed  by  the  French. 
A  duty  was  imposed  upon  ships  owned  by  foreigners 
and  discharging  cargoes  in  France.^  It  was  one  of  Col- 
bert's dreams  that  France  should  become  the  great  colo- 
nial power  of  Europe.  There  was  a  fair  opportunity 
for  her  to  acquire  the  position  which  was  afterwards 
attained  by  England.     Spain  and  Portugal  could  not 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  ii.  551. 

-  Lettres,  Instructions,  etc.,  t.  iii. 

^  This  duty  was  imposed  by  Fouquet,  and  was  the  revival  of 
an  ancient  provision  of  a  similar  nature.  —  Cor.  Adm.  sous  Louis 
XIV.,  iii.  30,  Int. 


124         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

be  dangerous  rivals.  The  decay  of  Spain  was  dissolv- 
ing her  colonial  empire.  Portugal  had  with  difficulty 
succeeded  in  regaining  her  national  existence,  and  the 
days  of  her  importance  on  the  great  seas  were  passed. 
Holland  had  largely  profited  by  the  losses  of  these 
powers,  but  there  was  no  reason  why  a  kingdom  like 
France  should  not  build  up  a  foreign  empire  far  more 
extensive  than  that  of  the  Seven  Provinces.  France 
had  vague  claims  of  proprietorship  over  a  large  part 
of  North  America,  which  could  have  been  turned  into 
a  substantial  authority.  From  her  possessions  in  Can- 
ada, enterprising  pioneers  were  pushing  out  over  the 
prairies  of  Illinois.  Others  were  extending  their  dis- 
coveries along  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi  in 
the  name  of  the  Lilies  of  France.  Many  of  the  West 
India  islands  were  already  hers.  The  English  empire 
was  not  yet  established  in  the  East  Indies.  That  great 
prize  lay  ready  for  the  nation  which  should  have  suffi- 
cient boldness,  resolution,  and  foresight  to  acquire  it. 

Trusting  in  the  efficienc}^  of  the  interference  of  the 
state,  Colbert  endeavored  to  accomplish  his  great 
plans  of  colonization  by  the  organization  of  companies 
which  obtained  trade  monopolies,  received  govern- 
mental aid,  and  were  hampered  by  governmental  su- 
pervision. Companies  were  organized  to  trade  in  the 
East  and  the  West  Indies,  in  Senegal  and  Madagas- 
car. None  of  them  prospered.  The  monopolies  which 
they  possessed  were  fatal  to  the  growth  of  popula- 
tion, which  alone  could  insure  a  permanent  and  a 
profitable  trade.  The  colonists  were  strictly  enjoined 
to  have  no  dealings  with  foreigners.  Goods  landed 
by  them  were  confiscated.  Those  who  traded  with 
them  could  be  banished. ^   The  profits  of  trade  were  so 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  t.  iii.  398,  500.     Colbert  declares  that 


COLBERT.  125 

strictly  guarded  for  the  benefit  of  the  monopolists  that 
soon  there  were  no  profits  to  receive.  The  companies 
were  harassed  by  the  directions  of  an  over- vigilant 
government.  In  remote  parts  of  the  world,  among 
barbarous  populations,  they  were  required  to  adminis- 
ter their  dominions  by  the  same  laws  that  were  in  force 
at  Paris  and  Versailles.  The  home  office  wished  its 
regulations  followed  implicitly  among  the  Caribs  of 
Martinique  and  the  Malagasy  of  Madagascar.  A 
settler  by  the  Bay  of  Bengal  could  marry  no  wife  but 
a  member  of  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church.  The 
planter  in  the  West  Indies  had  to  raise  and  prepare  his 
sugar  to  comply  with  usages  established  at  Bordeaux. 
Girls  were  sent  out  to  become  wives  of  the  colonists, 
and  Colbert  wrote  the  governor  that  they  must  all  be 
married  within  fifteen  days  at  latest.^  Other  direc- 
tions were  equally  peremptory  and  less  judicious.  The 
companies  fared  like  children  who  are  restrained  from 
exercise  for  fear  of  harm.  They  grew  up  weakly,  and 
an  early  death  terminated  a  sickly  existence.  They 
died  of  over-protection.  All  of  the  companies  organ- 
ized by  Colbert  liquidated  at  a  loss,  and  the  most  of 
them  within  a  few  years.  Of  the  colonies,  Canada, 
which  had  been  to  a  considerable  extent  let  alone, 
gained  the  most  in  population.  Still,  the  efforts  of 
Colbert  turned  the  attention  of  France  to  the  colonies 
that  she  might  build  up,  and  to  the  foreign  posses- 
sions which  she  might  acquire.  Had  his  example 
been  followed,  the  French  navy  might  have  rivaled 

nothing  was  of  so  much  importance  as  the  enforcement  of  this 
regulation. 

^  Much  information  about  the  career  of  these  companies  will 
be  found  in  the  correspondence  of  Colbert  ;  also,  in  the  various 
edicts  by  which  they  were  organized  and  directed. 


126  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

that  of  England.  Had  Pitt  ruled  France  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  instead  of  Louis  XV.  and  Mme.  de 
Pompadour,  she  might  have  become  the  great  colonial 
power  of  Europe,  and  the  hopes  of  Richelieu  and 
Colbert  would  have  been  fulfilled. 

In  many  other  respects  Colbert  endeavored  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  the  country.  He  did  much,  and 
left  much  undone.  Many  of  the  annoying  internal 
tolls  were  abolished,  but  many  remained.  An  edict 
abolishing  every  toll  on  road  or  river  in  the  interior 
of  France  would  have  increased  the  trade  and  wealth 
of  that  country  more  than  all  Colbert's  efPorts  during 
twenty  years.  Some  of  those  who  had  fraudulently 
withdrawn  their  property  from  the  taille  were  again 
subject  to  it,  but  the  nobility  still  enjoyed  exemp- 
tion from  this  tax.  Colbert  saw  the  advantages  of  a 
uniform  system  of  weights  and  measures.^  But  it  is 
often  easier  to  change  the  nature  of  a  government 
than  to  alter  the  system  by  which  the  butcher  shall 
weigh  his  meat  or  the  baker  measure  his  flour,  and  the 
proposed  reform  was  not  executed.  It  may  be  said 
that  measures  such  as  these,  certainly  those  which 
would  have  deprived  the  nobility  of  their  feudal  privi- 
leges and  have  exposed  them  to  the  same  taxation  as 
the  vulgar,  would  have  been  equivalent  to  a  revolu- 
tion in  the  social  system.  This  is  perhaps  so.  It  does 
not  follow  that  they  could  not  have  been  effected  with- 
out resistance.  In  1789,  privileges  and  prerogatives 
fell  as  softly  as  autumn  leaves.  Uniform  systems  of 
law  and  of  weights  and  measures,  the  abolition  of  im- 
munities from  taxation  and  of  the  privileges  of  trade 
organizations,  all  the  changes  which  had  long  been  de- 
clared too  hazardous  to  attempt,  were  adopted  and  en- 
^  Discours  pour  le  conseil,  October,  1665. 


COLBERT,  127 

forced  as  easily  as  a  law  for  reclaiming  swamp  lands. 
When  the  advantages  of  a  reform  can  be  clearly  seen, 
it  is  usually  time  for  its  adoption.  The  difficulties 
of  enforcement  are  generally  imaginary.  The  surest 
way  to  prepare  for  a  reform  is  to  adopt  it. 

Colbert's  career  became  more  difficult  towards  its 
close.  Louvois  appealed  to  the  love  of  military  glory, 
which  was  Louis's  strongest  passion,  and  his  counsels 
became  more  acceptable  than  those  of  the  man  of 
peace.  The  cost  of  war,  the  expense  of  buildings 
and  of  the  splendor  in  which  the  king  delighted,  over- 
threw the  equilibrium  of  the  budget  which  Colbert 
had  labored  so  diligently  to  obtain.  But  though  Louis 
was  less  inclined  to  adopt  his  counsels,  he  always  re- 
garded the  minister  with  favor.^  Colbert  died  in 
1683,  in  possession  of  the  offices  and  dignities  which 
he  had  so  long  held.  To  the  people  of  France  he 
had  for  many  years  seemed  a  man  ingenious  in  creat- 
ing new  devices  for  taxation.  His  efforts  at  increas- 
ing their  prosperity  had  failed,  and  he  was  regarded 
with  hatred.  Guards  had  to  be  stationed  along  the 
road  from  his  house  to  the  church  to  keep  the  mob 
from  tearing  to  pieces  the  body  of  the  minister  who 
had  become  odious  to  them.^ 

When  in  Mazarin's  employ,  Colbert  had  shown  zeal 
for  his  own  interests,  as  well  as  for  those  of  his  mas- 
ter.    He    had  asked   for  a  great  deal,  and  received 

^  Louis  wrote  to  Seignelay,  when  Colbert  was  dying  :  "  I  hope 
that  God  will  not  take  him  from  this  world,  where  he  is  so  needed. 
I  hope  it  with  all  my  heart,  from  the  particular  friendship  I  have 
for  him  and  all  his  family."  The  statements  of  the  Venetian 
ambassador  and  others,  that  Colbert  before  his  death  had  entirely 
lost  the  favor  of  the  king,  I  do  not  think  are  correct. 

2  Lettres  de  la  Princesse  Palatine,  September  29,  1683 :  Ee- 
lazioni  dagli  Ambasciatori  Veneti. 


128    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

much.  To  a  still  larger  extent  he  enjoyed  the  bene- 
factions of  the  king.  Louis  was  always  willing  to 
reward  his  servants,  and  Colbert  was  equally  willing  to 
receive.  His  family  was  established  among  the  great 
nobility.  Two  of  his  daughters  married  dukes.  His 
son  succeeded  him  in  the  navy  department.  The  for- 
tune  which  he  left  was  estimated  at  10,000,000  livres, 
as  much  as  $10,000,000  now.  He  claimed  that  he 
made  every  sou  of  it  honestly,  from  the  lawful  perqui- 
sites of  the  offices  he  held,  and  from  the  gifts  which 
he  had  received  from  the  king.  This  was  undoubtedly 
true.  To  be  honest  was  rare,  to  be  disinterested  was 
unknown. 


CHAPTER  V. 

LOUIS   THE   GREAT. 

When  the  title  of  "  the  Great  "  was  conferred  upon 
Louis  XIV.  by  the  authorities  of  Paris  in  1680,  it 
was  deemed  well  deserved  alike  by  his  subjects,  by 
Europe,  and  by  himself.  Since  the  Emperor  Charles 
v.,  no  sovereign  had  possessed  such  power  or  excited 
such  apprehension.  The  attention  of  every  other  Euro- 
pean court  was  riveted  on  Versailles.  Each  morning 
the  princes  of  the  empire,  the  grandees  of  Spain,  the 
merchants  of  Holland,  and  the  cardinals  of  Kome 
asked  eagerly  for  the  latest  news  from  the  king  of 
France.  The  dangers  to  be  feared  from  his  ambition, 
and  the  magnificence  which  characterized  his  life, 
were  discussed  in  every  council  chamber,  in  every 
coffee-house,  in  every  barber-shop  in  Europe.  No 
statesman  passed  a  day  without  considering  the  last 
rumor  as  to  the  purposes  of  the  great  king,  whether 
he  was  contemplating  the  acquisition  of  a  new  prov- 
ince, or  was  content  to  be  coquetting  with  a  new 
mistress. 

In  war  his  career  had  been  one  of  unbroken  suc- 
cess. France  had  resisted  the  half  of  Europe  in  arms, 
and  had  emerged  from  the  struggle  with  her  terri- 
tories largely  increased.  In  the  campaign  of  1678, 
three  hundred  thousand  men  had  marched  under  the 
fieurs  de  lis.    No  civilized  nation  had  sent  such  forces 


130         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

into  the  field  since  the  legions  of  Rome  contended  by 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Danube. 

The  peaceful  achievements  of  the  king  excited  as 
much  admiration  as  his  victories  in  war.  The  splen- 
dor and  the  costliness  of  the  buildings  erected  at 
Paris,  Marly,  and  Ver£;ailles  exceeded  anything  that 
the  world  had  seen  since  the  great  constructions  of 
the  Roman  emperors.  From  the  beauty  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  women  whohi  Louis  favored  with  his  af- 
fection, the  wealth  which  he  squandered  upon  them, 
the  palaces  which  he  erected  for  them,  his  fame  for 
a  prodigal  and  varied  gallantry  rivaled  that  of  the 
caliph  Haroun  al  Raschid.  The  fervor  of  his  faith, 
the  regularity  of  his  devotions,  his  abhorrence  of 
heresy  and  his  efforts  for  its  destruction,  made  him 
equally  renowned  for  piety,  and  he  could  fitly  bear 
the  title  of  Most  Christian  King,  with  which  the  pa- 
pacy had  honored  the  throne  of  France.  His  court 
was  far  more  splendid  than  that  of  any  other  Euro- 
pean monarch,  and  there  gathered  an  aristocracy 
which  had  once  been  powerful  and  independent,  but 
which  was  now  content  to  bask  in  the  royal  presence, 
and  to  be  obscured  by  the  glory  of  the  central  sun. 
The  descendants  of  nobles  who  had  led  armies  in  the 
crusades  and  the  English  wars,  and  who  had  ruled 
provinces  almost  as  independent  sovereigns,  sought 
only  the  royal  smile ;  they  counted  their  success  in 
life  by  the  extent  of  their  intimacy  with  the  king ;  from 
him,  and  from  him  alone,  they  obtained  the  offices 
which  increased  their  dignity,  and  the  pensions  which 
increased  their  wealth. 

Many  feudal  privileges  of  the  nobility  continued 
until  the  Revolution,  and  they  became  the  more  odious 
because  the  theory  of  the  protection  of  the  weak  by 


LOUIS  THE   GREAT.  131 

the  strong,  on  which  they  were  based,  had  long  be- 
come an  extinct  tradition.  But  the  feudal  aristocracy 
of  France,  so  far  as  its  relations  with  the  sovereign 
were  concerned,  ceased  to  exist  during  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  An  order  of  nobility  became  a  body 
of  courtiers.  It  was  mainly  to  the  increased  power  of 
the  central  government  that  this  result  was  due,  but 
the  character  of  the  king  was  not  without  its  influ- 
ence. He  wished  his  court  splendid,  and  he  wished 
it  to  contain  all  those  who  were  illustrious  from  birth 
or  fortune.  No  one  could  hope  for  favor  or  promotion 
unless  his  face  was  often  seen  at  Versailles.  No  skill 
in  the  field,  no  services  in  administration,  could  atone 
for  the  neglect  to  pay  to  the  sovereign  the  homage 
of  personal  attendance.  Louis  could  not  express  his 
disfavor  of  any  one  more  clearly  than  when  he  said, 
"  I  do  not  see  him  often  at  court." 

The  life  at  Versailles  combined  magnificence  with 
pleasure.  Ordinarily  there  were  plays  and  operas 
three  times  a  week,  and  a  ball  every  Saturday.  When 
there  was  no  special  entertainment,  there  was  still 
much  to  amuse  and  delight.  Everybody  of  rank  was 
found  in  the  great  halls  and  chambers  of  the  palace. 
These  were  adorned  with  fine  paintings,  they  were 
brilliantly  lighted,  they  were  filled  with  well-bred 
people.  The  richness  and  variety  of  the  dresses  of 
both  sexes  furnished  a  scene  which  in  our  day  can 
nowhere  be  found.  In  one  room  musicians  sang  for 
those  who  wished  to  listen,  in  another  the  violins 
played  for  those  who  preferred  to  dance.  The  cham- 
bers where  there  were  games  of  cards  were  always  the 
most  frequented.  The  king  played  somewhat,  though 
with  moderation,  losing  his  money  as  a  king  should. 
But  he  liked  to  see  the  stakes  high,  and  his  courtiers, 


132  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

men  and  women  alike,  were  willing  to  gratify  him. 
Great  sums  were  constantly  wagered.  Good  players 
became  wealthy  at  the  royal  tables,  and  bad  players 
there  lost  great  estates.  In  another  hall  were  the  bil- 
liard tables.  Louis  was  fond  of  billiards,  and  played 
well.  When  Chamillart  was  made  comptroller  gen- 
eral, it  was  said  that  he  owed  the  foundation  of  his 
fortunes  to  the  skill  by  which  he  made  it  difficult  for 
the  king  to  beat  him,  and  the  judgment  by  which  he 
did  not  render  it  impossible.^  In  another  hall  a  sump- 
tuous repast  was  always  ready.  There  was  plenty  of 
good  wine,  but  no  one  drank  to  excess,  for  dissipation 
in  that  form  did  not  accord  with  the  dignity  of  the 
king  or  the  habits  of  the  people. 

No  court  at  that  time,  perhaps  no  court  at  any  time, 
could  show  such  a  combination  of  luxury,  elaborate 
etiquette,  and  polished  good-breeding.  The  courtiers 
pleased  Louis  best  who  displayed  a  lavdsh  extrava- 
gance in  their  dress  and  in  their  establishments. 
Sometimes  he  uttered  a  word  of  caution  on  the  reck- 
less expenditure  of  his  attendants,  but  those  who  dis- 
regarded it  were  the  better  liked.  When  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  was  married,  a  nobleman  of  modest  tastes 
spent  the  equivalent  of  $20,000  for  clothes  for  himself 
and  his  wife,  in  which  to  appear  at  the  festivities.^ 

The  ordinary  course  of  amusements  was  occasion- 
ally varied  by  festivities  of  special  magnificence.  The 
carrousels  furnished  an  opportunity  for  the  young 
noblemen  to  display  their  address,  their  ingenuity, 
and  their  splendor.  At  one  of  them  the  civil  wars  of 
Granada  were  represented,  at  another  the  strife  be- 
tween the  Saracens  and  the  Paladins  of  Charlemagne. 

1  Mem.  de  Sourches^  i.  154  ;  Mem.  de  St.  Simony  ii.  231. 

2  Mem.  de  St.  Simon^  i.  484. 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT,  133 

The  dresses  were  costly  and  gorgeous.  The  jousting 
and  the  mimic  contests  exhibited  the  skill  of  a  nobil- 
ity which  was  never  lacking  in  any  grace,  and  never 
recreant  where  courage  was  required.  The  chronicles 
of  the  court  devote  much  more  space  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  these  carrousels  than  to  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  and  they  undoubtedly  excited  much 
more  interest. 

The  reviews  of  the  army  were  conducted  on  a  still 
more  imposing  scale.  They  combined  all  that  was 
most  gratifying  to  the  tastes  of  the  king.  At  Com- 
piegne,  60,000  men  marched  and  countermarched  in 
his  presence,  fought  mimic  battles,  and  captured  ima- 
ginary cities.  The  discipline  of  the  men,  the  mag- 
nificent uniforms  of  the  officers,  the  prodigal  enter- 
tainments in  which  a  colonel  or  a  general  spent  the 
income  of  a  year  in  the  hospitality  of  a  day,  astounded 
the  world  and  delighted  the  sovereign. 

The  Marshal  of  Boufflers  had  tables  spread  by  day 
and  night,  on  which  were  found  the  choicest  wines 
and  the  rarest  dishes ;  over  four  hundred  servants 
cared  with  equal  attention  for  all  visitors,  whether  of 
high  or  low  degree.  Forty  horses  were  needed  to 
draw  the  supplies  of  fruit  and  vegetables.  Special 
agents  at  Brussels  gave  their  whole  time  to  procuring 
sufficient  sturgeon  and  salmon.  A  thousand  bottles 
of  wine  were  drunk  every  day  at  his  headquarters.^ 
Houses  were  erected  for  his  guests,  all  furnished  and 
equipped  like  the  most  superb  palaces  at  Paris.  A 
fortune  was  wasted  in  the  lavish  entertainment  of 
three  weeks. 

Distinctions  which  seem  trivial  now  were  the  things 
for  which  men  intrigued  and  toiled  during  Louis's 
1  Mercure,  September,  1698,  Gazette  cf  Amsterdam. 


134  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

reign,  as  the  rewards  of  a  lifetime.  The  right  to  be 
admitted  to  the  king's  levee  when  the  curtains  around 
his  bed  were  first  drawn  back,  instead  of  when  he  was 
already  arrayed  in  his  rohe  de  chambre^  conferred  upon 
those  entitled  to  it  a  dignity  which  could  not  be  over- 
estimated. Louis  designed  a  sort  of  close-fitting  coat, 
which  could  be  worn  only  by  those  receiving  special 
permission  ;  and  the  privilege  of  arraying  one's  self  in 
an  ugly  jacket  of  red  and  blue  was  hankered  after  by 
the  greatest  nobles  of  France.  The  man  to  whom  the 
monarch  spoke  a  friendly  word,  or  granted  a  lengthy 
interview,  became,  for  the  time  at  least,  a  personage 
of  distinction.  The  courtier  whom  he  directed  to  hold 
the  candle  as  he  retired  was  an  object  of  envy  to  all 
the  world. 

Such  a  life  affected  the  character  and  the  position 
of  the  French  aristocracy.  To  be  away  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  king  was  to  be  in  exile.  The  monarch's 
displeasure  was  often  manifested  by  a  sentence  which 
banished  the  offender,  and  ordered  him  to  retire  to 
his  estates.  To  exchange  a  scene  of  tedious  pomp 
and  constant  intrigue  for  some  ancient  chateau  sur- 
rounded by  parks  and  forests,  and  by  all  the  beauty 
of  the  country  in  France,  might  not  seem  a  severe 
penalty,  but  it  was  deemed  a  punishment  almost  too 
grievous  to  be  borne.  Mme.  de  St.  Geran  was  or- 
dered to  leave  the  court,  and  she  at  once  retired  into 
a  convent.  Her  conduct  was  much  approved.  When 
she  had  displeased  the  king,  it  was  fitting  that  she 
should  abandon  the  world  and  seek  the  seclusion  of  a 
religious  retreat ;  who  fell  from  all  she  knew  of 
earthly  bliss  could  turn  her  thoughts  only  to  heaven. 
After  years  of  exile  the  Marquis  of  Vardes  was 
allowed  to  return   to  Versailles.     Perhaps  with  the 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT.  135 

purpose  of  delicate  flattery,  he  reappeared  in  the  dress 
which  had  been  in  vogue  long  before,  and  the  younger 
courtiers  sneered  at  his  attire.  "  When  banished 
from  your  Majesty,"  said  the  marquis,  "one  is  not 
only  unhappy,  but  one  is  ridiculous." 

Absorbed  in  the  life  of  the  court,  a  nobleman  lost 
all  interest  in  local  questions ;  he  became  a  stranger 
to  his  tenantry.  Their  only  relations  with  him  were 
when  his  bailiff  came  to  extract  the  last  sou  of  rent ; 
when  his  deer  trampled  down  their  crops,  or  his 
pigeons  ate  up  their  grain.  The  nobility  thus  became 
practically  non-resident ;  and  non-resident  owners  of 
land  are  alike  injurious  and  odious  to  the  community. 
The  charmed  existence  at  Versailles,  gorgeous  fetes, 
costly  dress,  profuse  living,  and  high  play  were  a 
heavy  drain  upon  those  who  there  passed  most  of 
their  lives.  Improvidence  in  money  matters  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  French  nobleman.  He  watched  with 
calmness  the  loss  of  a  fortune  by  the  turn  of  a  card. 
Though  his  estates  might  be  mortgaged  beyond  their 
value,  he  continued  with  unconcern  a  career  of  prodi- 
gal dissipation.  The  cost  of  such  modes  of  life  had 
to  be  supplied  in  some  way,  and  this  could  only  be 
done  by  the  crown.  Pensions  were  bestowed  freely  and 
were  spent  lavishly.  A  nobility  which  lived  on  pen- 
sions was  sure  to  be  subservient,  and  a  people  which 
had  to  pay  them  was  sure  to  become  discontented. 

The  embassies  which  came  from  distant  countries  to 
offer  their  homage  to  Louis  XIV.  added  to  the  lustre 
of  his  name,  and  attracted  an  amount  of  attention  out 
of  proportion  to  their  importance.  In  1685,  some  Mus- 
covite ambassadors  presented  themselves  at  the  court. 
Russia  then  seemed  to  the  French  a  more  remote  and 
barbarous  country  than  Corea  does  now.     Her  repre- 


186    FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

sentatives  showed  by  their  conduct  how  much  more 
closely  they  were  allied  with  Eastern  than  with  Western 
civilization.  When  they  were  presented  to  the  king, 
they  threw  themselves  upon  the  ground  with  their 
faces  down,  after  the  Oriental  custom,  and  this  mute 
adoration  was  not  unacceptable.  There  was  some 
question  as  to  their  official  character ;  their  appear- 
ance was  poor  and  their  credentials  were  uncertain ; 
but  they  were  good  enough  ambassadors  to  gratify  the 
vanity  of  the  king.^ 

The  embassy  from  Siam  received  still  more  atten- 
tion. Louis  had  sent  a  representative  to  Siam,  ac- 
companied by  one  of  the  most  worldly  and  frivolous 
of  French  abbes,  who  was  to  undertake  the  conversion 
of  the  Siamese  king.  That  sovereign  showed  little  de- 
sire to  become  a  Christian,  even  under  such  tuition,  but 
he  sent  ambassadors  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  king  of 
France.  Innumerable  crowds  watched  their  entry  into 
Paris,  and  at  Versailles  everything  was  done  to  im- 
press the  strangers  from  the  remote  East  with  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  Western  monarch.  Apparently  these 
efforts  were  successful.  When  the  ambassadors  were 
received  at  court,  they  fell  upon  their  knees  and  gazed 
long  and  with  intense  interest  upon  the  king.  In 
their  address  they  assured  him  that  their  lives  would 
be  too  short  to  declare  their  admiration,  and  that  spe- 
cial embassies  to  the  allies  of  Siam  would  proclaim 
throughout  all  the  East,  and  for  all  time,  the  incompar- 
able virtues  of  Louis  the  Great.^ 

The  king's  taste  for.  building  was  only  exceeded  by 
his  taste  for  war,  and  he  spent  enormous  sums  on  the 
palaces  which  he  constructed  and  adorned.     They  do 

1  Mem.  de  Sourches,  i.  224. 

2  Ib.f  ii.  9,  10  ;  Daiigean,  i.  370  et  passim  ;  Abb^  de  Choisy, 


LOUIS    THE   GREAT.  137 

not  represent  the  highest  order  of  architecture,  but  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  did  much  for  the  improvement 
of  Paris,  and  has  left  memorials  of  which  the  French 
may  still  be  justly  proud.  The  Hotel  des  Invalides 
was  constructed  by  Louis's  order,  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  Colbert.  The  king  contributed  one  half  to- 
wards the  expense  of  the  canal  of  Languedoc,  which 
was  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  beneficial  achieve- 
ments of  his  reign.  The  completion  of  the  Louvre 
also  excited  the  special  interest  of  Colbert.  His  zeal 
in  building  was  not,  however,  accompanied  by  equally 
good  taste.  The  heavy  and  grandiose  architecture 
which  pleased  the  master  pleased  the  man.  He  de- 
sired that  Bernini  should  prepare  plans  for  the 
Louvre,  and  he  declared  that  the  rare  productions  of 
the  Italian's  genius  made  him  the  admiration  of  the 
world. ^  Bernini  visited  Paris,  that  he  might  see  those 
portions  of  the  building  already  constructed,  and  the 
site  for  the  new  additions.  He  was  received  with 
the  greatest  honors.  The  officers  of  the  cities  through 
which  he  passed  presented  their  respects.  Special 
messengers  were  sent  to  see  that  ice  was  provided  to 
cool  his  wine  wherever  he  deigned  to  stop.  But, 
fortunately,  his  plans  were  not  accepted.  Paris  has 
suffered  from  wars,  revolutions,  and  communes,  but 
she  was  saved  from  Bernini.    Colbert  declared  that  his 

614.  However  Oriental  in  its  effusion,  the  address  of  the  am- 
bassadors was  prepared  for  them  by  the  abbd.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  much  of  the  inspiration  of  these  famous  embassies 
to  Louis  XIV.  came  from  his  own  subjects.  They  knew  the 
pleasure  that  such  ceremonials  gave  him,  and  his  vanity  was  too 
much  gratified  at  receiving  delegations  from  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  to  harbor  suspicions  as  to  who  had  suggested  their 
coming. 

1  Colbert  to  Bernini,  March,  1664. 


138         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

plans  equaled  the  works  of  the  Greeks  and  Eomans 
in  grandeur  and  majesty,  and  were  worthy  of  the 
great  king  for  whom  they  were  designed.  With  all 
this  grandeur,  there  were  too  many  open  courts  and 
galleries  ;  there  were  great  halls  for  plays  and  feasts, 
but  no  preparations  for  a  climate  where  it  rained 
most  of  the  time,  and  where  one  had  to  sit  by  the  fire 
from  October  to  May.^  Bernini  returned  to  Rome, 
and  was  consoled  by  a  pension.  The  eastern  end  of 
the  Louvre,  which  faces  the  Church  of  St.  Germain 
I'Auxerrois,  was  constructed  according  to  the  plans 
of  Claude  Perrault.  It  is  dignified  and  imposing, 
and  if  less  pleasing  than  the  portions  of  the  Louvre 
erected  by  Francis  I.  and  Catharine  de  Medici,  it  is 
the  most  satisfactory  of  the  structures  which  posterity 
owes  to  Louis  XIV. 

Paris  was  beautified  in  many  ways  during  this  reign. 
Parks  were  laid  out ;  streets  were  broadened  and  made 
more  regular  ;  they  were  better  lighted  and  better 
cleaned.  The  city  was  still  far  removed  from  the  ele- 
gance of  the  present,  but  in  many  parts  one  was  less 
offended  by  filth  by  day,  and  was  in  less  danger  of 
being  garroted  in  the  darkness  by  night.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  improvement  was  accomplished  at  the 
sacrifice  of  some  of  the  beauty  and  picturesqueness 
of  old  Paris.  A  distaste  for  mediaeval  squalor  was 
unfortunately  accompanied  by  a  distaste  for  mediaeval 
architecture.  Gothic  towers  and  gables  fell,  to  be  re- 
placed by  Mansard  roofs. 

The  great  constructions  at  Versailles  were  of  the 
most  interest  to  the  king,  and  with  them  he  is  most 
closely  identified.  Versailles  was  little  more  than  a 
shooting-box  when  Louis  began  to  enlarge  and  beau- 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  v.  247, 269  et  pas. ;  Mem.  de  Charles  Perrault 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT.  139 

tify  it.  The  constantly  increasing  sums  which  he  there 
expended  drew  frequent  remonstrances  from  Colbert. 
He  besought  the  king  to  fix  a  sum  which  should  not 
be  exceeded  on  any  pretext.  If  Louis  would  reduce 
his  expenditures  for  buildings  to  3,000,000  livres,  he 
wrote  him  in  1670,  and  would  bring  his  entire  ex- 
penses down  to  60,000,000,  he  could  promise  him 
abundance  of  money  all  his  days,  while  his  enemies 
would  be  reduced  to  need.^ 

With  equal  solicitude  he  desired  that  the  king 
should  take  more  interest  in  the  Louvre  and  less  in 
Versailles.  "  What  a  pity,"  he  cried,  "  that  the  great- 
est and  most  virtuous  of  kings  should  be  measured 
by  the  scale  of  Versailles,  and  yet  there  is  reason  to 
apprehend  this  misfortune."  ^  His  prophecy  was  ful- 
filled. The  character  of  Louis  XIV.  is  symbolized 
in  stone  and  mortar  by  the  palace  he  there  erected. 
Whoever  cares  to  gain  a  just  conception  of  what  man- 
ner of  man  Louis  XIV.  was,  cannot  do  better  than 
to  stroll  through  the  vast  and  tasteless  gardens,  where 
even  nature  ceases  to  be  beautiful,  and  look  upon  the 
great  row  of  monstrous  buildings  which,  close  the 
view.  The  palace  resembles  its  master ;  it  is  grandi- 
ose, commonplace,  and  dull.  It  was  the  place  which, 
of  all  the  world,  Louis  XIV.  most  loved.  He  was  not 
fond  of  Paris ;  the  turbulence  of  the  great  city  was  dis- 
tasteful to  him,  and  years  sometimes  passed  without 
his  entering  its  walls  ;  but  he  stood  by  the  fountain 
of  Diana  and  looked  upon  the  facade  extending  for 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  vii.  253-255.  "  J'oserois,  dis-je,  rdpondre 
k  votre  majeste,  qu'elle  verra  la  mesme  abondance  pendant 
toute  sa  vie."  This  sum,  he  added,  was  a  quarter  more  than 
Louis  XIII.  ever  spent,  even  when  he  had  five  armies  in  the 
field. 

2  Colbert  to  Louis,  September  28,  1665. 


140  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  his  soul  was  content.^  Ver- 
sailles excited  the  wonder  and  delight  of  contempora- 
ries, and  it  is  still  imposing  to  the  multitude.  It  has 
tended  to  vulgarize  the  conceptions  both  of  architec- 
ture and  of  royalty. 

The  choice  of  the  site  was  singularly  unfortunate. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Paris  there  is  a  country  of  great 
beauty,  richly  wooded,  diversified  by  the  windings  of 
the  Seine,  and  with  hills  and  banks  commanding  ex- 
tensive and  delightful  views.  At  St.  Germain,  where 
Louis  was  born,  the  beauty  of  the  situation  and  the 
magnificence  of  the  view  could  hardly  be  excelled. 
But  the  king  had  no  love  for  nature ;  he  preferred 
the  prospect  of  clipped  evergreens  and  spouting  foun- 
tains* to  that  of  the  Seine  winding  among  primeval 
forests.  Versailles  was  low,  flat,  sandy,  and  without 
either  wood  or  water,  and  he  found  it  the  locality  most 
agreeable  to  his  tastes.  It  was  necessary  to  procure 
water  elsewhere,  and  it  was  brought  from  the  Seine  at 
Marly.  Later,  the  idea  was  formed  of  diverting  the 
course  of  the  Eure,  and  carrying  it  a  distance  of  fifty 
miles  to  Versailles.  An  aqueduct  was  to  be  constructed, 
some  of  the  arches  of  which  were  to  be  higher  than 
the  towers  of  Notre  Dame.  Louvois  encouraged  this 
undertaking, —- one  sufficiently  costly  and  useless  to 
have  pleased  the  Persian  Darius.  Thirty  thousand 
soldiers  were  set  to  work  at  digging  the  new  bed  for 
the  river.  The  difficulties  were  enormous ;  the  exca- 
vations caused  sickness,  and  the  mortality  among  the 
soldiers  was  frightful.  At  the  expiration  of  three 
years,  after  a  great  waste  of  life  and  money,  the 
scheme  was  abandoned. 

The  amount  of  money  spent  at  Versailles  was  large, 
1  Mem.  de  Sourches,  i.  56. 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT,  141 

yet  It  was  very  much  less  than  has  often  been  stated/* 
The  discovery  of  the  building  accounts  renders  it  pos- 
sible to  ascertain  the  cost  with  considerable  accuracy. 
The  whole  amount  expended  for  the  palace  at  Ver- 
sailles, including  its  accessories,  decorations,  and  works 
of  art,  was  about  116,000,000  livres.  That  sum  would 
represent  in  equivalent  value  as  many  dollars  now, 
or  about  24,000,000  pounds.^  Considering  the  size 
of  the  buildings  and  the  splendor  of  the  furniture  and 
the  decorations,  the  cost  was  not  excessive.  Most  of 
the  work  was  done  under  the  supervision  of  Colbert 
or  of  Louvois.  No  contractors  were  allowed  to  batten 
on  the  public  treasury,  and  no  political  necessity  com- 
pelled the  employment  of  useless  laborers  at  exor- 
bitant wages. 

While  the  palaces  which  Louis  built  were  thought 
to  rival  the  great  constructions  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
it  was  as  a  patron  of  literature  that  he  seemed  still 
more  illustrious.  Even  now  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
is  compared  with  that  of  Augustus  at  Rome,  and  of 

^  For  example,  Voltaire  estimated  the  expense  of  Versailles 
at  500,000,000  livres,  Mirabeau  at  twice  that  sum,  and  Volney 
at  4,600,000,000.  Such  figures  have  no  basis  but  an  excited 
imagination. 

2  This  includes  the  amounts  spent  at  the  Trianon,  and  the  cost 
of  the  various  schemes  for  bringing  water  to  Versailles.  The 
long  period  covered  by  the  work,  and  the  multiplicity  of  objects 
purchased,  make  it  impossible  to  ascertain  the  exact  figures. 
It  is  also  unimportant.  See  Comptes  des  batiments  du  roi,  from 
1660  to  1695,  published  in  three  volumes.  The  remaining  ac- 
counts are  still  in  MSS.  at  the  Bib.  Nat.  See,  also,  Etats  au  vrai 
de  toutes  les  sommes  employees  par  Louis  XIV.,  etc.,  by  Eckard, 
and  the  works  of  Taschereau  and  others  on  the  same  subject. 
The  largest  sum  spent  in  any  one  year  was  about  11,000,000 
livres  in  1685,  under  the  superintendence  of  Louvois.  Louvois 
stimulated  the  zeal  of  the  king  for  extravagant  building,  while 
Colbert,  with  small  success,  endeavored  to  restrain  it. 


142         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Elizabeth  in  England.  Inheriting  the  throne  at  the 
age  of  four,  Louis  was  king  of  France  for  seventy- 
two  years.  That  long  period  covers  more  or  less  of 
the  career  of  all  the  great  French  authors  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  But  if  we  are  to  judge  simply  by 
the  eminence  of  the  men  who  live  during  a  reign,  the 
sixty  years  that  Louis  XV.  occupied  the  throne  were 
still  more  important  in  literature,  science,  and  thought. 
If,  instead  of  enumerating  the  authors  who  wrote  dur- 
ing the  lifetime  of  Louis  XIV.,  we  consider  how  far 
they  were  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  his  administra- 
tion, there  seems  little  reason  to  claim  that  benefits  to 
literature  should  atone  for  errors  in  politics.  It  was 
not  until  1661  that  Louis  XIV.  became  anything  more 
than  a  nominal  king.  Most  of  the  illustrious  French 
writers  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  then  at  the 
zenith  of  their  fame ;  their  genius  had  not  been  fos- 
tered by  the  luxurious  living  and  narrow  thinking 
of  a  court,  but  by  the  turbulence  and  the  license  of 
the  Fronde ;  they  had  drawn  inspiration  from  the 
government  of  Richelieu  and  the  career  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus;  they  had  felt  the  influence  of  the  strug- 
gle for  freedom  in  thought  and  expression  which  had 
produced  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  Rabelais  and  a 
Montaigne. 

In  1661,  Descartes  had  been  dead  for  eleven  years.^ 
Pascal  had  ceased  to  write.  Corneille  had  published 
his  great  works,  and  was  to  create  nothing  more  which 
should  add  to  his  reputation.  Moli^re  was  a  man  of 
almost  forty;  he  had  produced  some  of  his  famous 

1  Louis  prohibited  teaching  the  philosophy  of  Descartes.  —  Cor. 
Adm.f  iv.  608,  1685.  Such  a  prohibition  was  characteristic  of  a 
reign,  the  fanatical  admirers  of  which  claim  Descartes  as  one  of 
its  glories. 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT.  143 

plays,  and  in  his  career  as  a  wandering  actor  he  had 
observed  the  other  t3^pes  of  character  which  he  was  to 
immortalize.  La  Fontaine  had  reached  the  same  age 
as  Moliere,  and  his  writings  were  so  little  to  the  royal 
taste  that  he  was  over  sixty  before  Louis  would  allow 
the  Academy  to  choose  him  as  a  member.  Rochefou- 
cauld belongs  to  the  period  of  the  Fronde.  St,  Simon, 
the  most  bitter  and  the  most  brilliant  of  all  the  writers 
of  memoirs,  gives  expression  to  the  political  reaction 
which  followed  the  death  of  Louis  XIV. 

The  careers  of  La  Bruy^re  and  Le  Sage,  of  Boileaii 
and  Mme.  de  Sevigne,  may  justly  be  reckoned  in  the 
age  of  Louis  XIV.  ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  dis- 
cover, in  the  writings  of  either  of  the  two  first  named, 
any  fruits  of  royal  patronage,  or  any  effects  of  royal 
influence.  The  only  great  writers  who  were  patro- 
nized by  the  court,  and  whose  works  seem  to  reflect 
the  stately  life  of  the  period,  are  Racine  and  the 
group  of  famous  French  preachers.  Certainly  it  says 
much  for  the  dignified  and  well-balanced  pomp  of  ex- 
istence at  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  that  we  can  feel  the 
affinity  between  it  and  tragedies  like  "  Andromaque  " 
and  "  Ph^dre,"  or  funeral  orations  like  those  of  Bos- 
suet  and  Massillon.  The  justness  of  expression,  the 
polished  diction,  the  perfect  good  taste  of  these  pro- 
ductions harmonize  with  the  traditions,  the  customs, 
the  instincts  of  the  age  to  which  they  belong.  They 
display  its  decorous  elegance  ;  it  may  perhaps  be  said 
that  they  are  characterized  by  its  limitations.  Racine 
could  find  his  place  in  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  it 
is  certain  that  there  would  have  been  no  room  there 
for  a  Shakespeare. 

If  we  consider  the  assistance  which  was  given  di- 
rectly to  men  of  letters,  we  shall  find  good  reason  for 


144         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

understanding  why  Louis  should  have  been  so  loudly 
proclaimed  as  a  patron  of  literature,  and  for  doubt- 
ing the  value  of  the  patronage.  Soon  after  the  king 
became  his  own  master,  he  began  giving  pensions  to 
authors,  and  the  amounts  thus  bestowed  represented 
annually  a  considerable  sum. 

Literature  rarely  profits  from  the  bounty  of  the 
great.  These  literary  pensions  were  little  more  than 
a  gigantic  scheme  of  advertising ;  they  find  their  anal- 
ogies in  the  subsidies  to  the  press  paid  by  modern 
governments  ;  they  suggest  the  idea  that  great  kings 
may  have  their  virtues  made  illustrious  by  processes 
not  wholly  unlike  those  which  now  familiarize  the 
world  with  the  panaceas  of  quacks.  "  The  king," 
wrote  Colbert,  "  will  cultivate  the  arts  with  the  more 
zeal,  because  they  will  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his 
great  and  glorious  achievements."  ^  Pensions  were 
granted  both  to  French  and  to  foreign  writers,  with 
careful  attention  to  their  use  where  they  would  do 
the  most  good.^  Chapelain  had  charge  of  the  liter- 
ary bureau,  and  his  letters  to  Colbert,  extending  over 
eleven  years,  are  a  curious  chapter  in  the  encourage- 
ment of  literature  by  royalty.  The  skill  with  which 
the  money  was  spent  so  as  to  have  Louis's  praises 
sounded  in  every  land  and  language  shows  that  in 
the  art  of  puffing  no  great  progress  has  been  made  dur- 
ing two  hundred  years.  Writers  of  contemporary  his- 
tory and  authorities  on  questions  of  international  law 
were  favorably  regarded,  and  poets  who  understood 
the  art  of  praise  were  sure  not  to  be  forgotten.  Col- 
bert was  delighted  at  the  results  that  might  be  ex- 
pected from  such  patronage.  "  These  great  men,"  he 
writes,  speaking  of  those  who  had  received  pensions, 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  v.  331. 

2  Lettres f  Instructions j  etc.,  de  Colbert,  t.  v.  587-650. 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT.  145 

"  charmed  at  such  protection,  have  formed  the  idea 
of  a  history  of  the  king  in  every  fashion  ;  a  history  of 
his  reign  to  be  told  in  French  and  in  Latin,  in  poetry 
and  in  panegyrics,  and  also  of  his  private  life,  where 
shall  be  seen  all  the  workings  of  his  mind,  all  that  he 
has  said  and  done."  ^  The  only  histories  wanted  were 
those  which  were  profuse  in  adulation.  A  Florentine, 
who  claimed  that  he  excelled  even  the  ancients  in  the 
art  of  flattery,  asked  for  data  from  which  he  could 
prepare  a  panegyric  of  the  king.  The  matter  was 
referred  to  Colbert  to  consider  with  the  care  that 
befitted  its  importance.^  Pellisson  was  selected  to 
write  a  history  of  Louis.  He  laid  down  the  rules 
which  should  govern  his  conduct.  "  The  king  must 
be  praised  everywhere,  but  without  appearance.  One 
must  not  give  his  acts  the  epithets  they  deserve,  but 
draw  these  from  the  mouth  of  the  reader  by  the  reci- 
tal of  the  achievements.  Plutarch  praised  Alexander 
.  thus,  and  he  was  well  praised."  "  It  is  to  be  hoped," 
he  adds,  "that  his  Majesty  will  agree  to  this  plan,  but 
he  must  not  seem  to  have  known  of  it,  much  less  to 
have  commanded  it."  ^ 

The  manner  in  which  the  objects  of  the  royal  bounty 
are  described  in  the  official  reports  of  the  moneys  paid 
them  is  often  in  curious  contrast  with  the  judgments 
of  posterity.  To  Chapelain,  "  illustrious  in  poetry," 
was  given  3,000  livres  ;  to  Carlo  Dati,  the  Floren- 
tine panegyrist,  1,200  ;  to  M^zeray,  "  for  his  profound 
knowledge  of  history,"  4,000.  On  the  other  hand, 
Moliere  received  1,000,  and  Racine  600.^ 

1  Lettres  de  Colbert,  ii.  61. 
3  Chapelain  to  Colbert,  April  5,  1666. 
8  Pellisson  to  Colbert,  1671. 

*  Racine's  pension  was  increased  to  1,500  livres.  Moliere  never 
received  over  1,000. 


146    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  literature  that  was  evolved  by  such  encourage- 
mei>t  was  of  the  character  that  we  might  expect.  One 
man  wrote  a  Latin  poem  of  twelve  hundred  verses  on 
the  birth  of  the  dauphin.  A  flood  of  poetry  followed 
the  king's  recovery  from  a  trifling  illness,  —  among 
others,  writes  Chapelain,  "  a  French  ode  by  a  young 
man  named  Racine,"  which  was  re-polished  under 
Chapelain's  advice,  and  the  author  received  a  pen- 
sion.i  "  I  have  a  Latin  poem,"  he  writes  again,  "  of 
over  two  hundred  verses,  very  fine,  and  entirely  filled 
with  the  praises  of  his  Majesty."  A  history  of  the 
reign  was  prepared  from  the  medals  which  had  been 
struck  of  Louis's  achievements.  A  copy  was  sent  to 
the  most  important  officials,  with  a  circular  stating 
that  this  was  a  book  that  every  public  man  should 
always  have  in  his  hands,  or  on  his  table.^ 

Yet  the  rigor  of  the  censorship  was  never  more 
severe  than  at  this  era..  The  historian  who  dared  to 
tell  the  truth ;  the  patriot  who  advanced  any  plan  for 
public  reformation  which  differed  from  the  accepted 
policy ;  the  writer  who  expressed  any  views  in  politics, 
religion,  or  philosophy  which  were  distasteful  to  the 
king,  or  who  failed  to  bestow  the  proper  amount  of 
adulation,  — received  no  pension  :  he  had  his  book  pub- 
lished anonymously  in  Holland,  and  was  fortunate  if 
he  did  not  find  himself  in  the  Bastille  for  his  pains. 
The  intellectual  torpor  of  the  last  twenty  years  of  the 
reign  was  the  natural  result  of  such  methods,  and  it 
is  the  best  proof  that  literature  was  harmed  more  than 
helped  by  the  patronage  of  Louis  XIV.  Indeed,  this 
seems  to  have  been  fatal  to  the  development  of  liter- 
ary or  of  military  genius.    Great  generals  and  great 

1  Chapelain  to  Colbert,  June  23,  1663. 

2  Circulaire  du  Comte  de  Pontckar train,  March  8,  1702. 


LOUIS    THE  GREAT,  147 

writers  were  in  their  full  vigor  wlien  Louis  assumed 
power.  Turenne  and  Conde  were  ready  to  fight  his 
battles,  Moliere  and  Racine  were  prepared  to  make 
his  theatres  famous.  But  the  intellectual  atmosphere 
ceased  to  be  favorable  for  the  growth  of  great  men. 
Those  whose  characters  had  been  formed  under  Eiche- 
lieu  and  the  Fronde  died  and  left  no  successors.  The 
last  years  of  Louis's  reign  were  as  poor  in  literature 
as  they  were  in  military  achievement. 

One  could  not  give  a  just  idea  of  the  great  king, 
in  the  period  of  his  highest  glory,  without  some  ref- 
erence to  the  many  and  beautiful  women  who  were 
the  objects  of  his  affection,  whose  varying  favor  was 
regarded  at  the  court  as  the  most  important  question 
of  the  day,  and  was  not  \iewed  with  indifference  even 
by  foreign  nations.  Any  great  detail  on  this  subject 
is,  however,  neither  edifying,  nor  of  advantage  to  pos- 
terity. In  such  matters  Louis  XIV.  was  not  more  nor 
less  an  offender  than  almost  all  kings  of  France,  and 
most  kings  of  every  nation.  He  would  be  less  subject 
to  censure,  if  his  role  as  a  Lothario  had  not  been  ac- 
centuated by  his  career  as  a  Diocletian.  Royalty  has 
often  proved  a  formidable  enemy  to  female  virtue,  and 
Louis  was  in  every  way  fitted  to  please.  Apart  from 
the  halo  which  encircled  him  as  a  king  and  a  con- 
queror, his  person  was  handsome  and  imposing.  He 
expressed  himself  always  with  justness,  and  often  with 
felicity.  He  was  a  master  of  that  courteous  deference 
to  ladies  which  was  the  more  agreeable  when  practiced 
by  a  great  monarch.  Such  a  man  would  have  been  a 
dangerous  admirer  though  he  had  not  been  a  sover- 
eign ;  if  he  had  not  been  the  king,  he  would  still  have 
been  the  most  elegant  gentleman  of  the  court. 

Louis's  relations  with  his  mistresses  were  attended 


148         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

with  the  same  publicity  as  the  other  actions  of  his  life. 
Virtue  was  not  paid  the  tribute  of  even  the  pretense 
of  secrecy.  The  king's  conduct  was  marked  also  by 
the  same  curious  lack  of  appreciation  of  others'  feel- 
ings that  he  always  manifested.  The  queen  was  a 
woman  of  small  intelligence,  but  she  was  not  destitute 
of  the  natural  feelings  of  a  wife,  and  Louis  regarded 
her,  if  not  with  affection,  at  least  with  friendliness. 
Yet,  in  the  solemn  processions  through  conquered 
towns,  she  was  obliged  to  drive  in  the  same  carriage 
with  La  Valliere  and  Monte  span,  the  two  favorites 
at  that  period,  and  the  public  jested  about  the  three 
queens.  Louis  XIV.  was  the  last  man  to  have  of- 
fered an  affront  to  his  wife,  or  to  have  allowed  it  from 
others,  but  he  was  unconscious  of  the  nature  of  his 
act.  Mistresses  as  well  as  wife  shared  the  glory  of 
belonging  to  him ;  the  world  was  entitled  to  see  them, 
as  it  was  entitled  to  see  all  the  acts  of  the  sun  of 
royalty,  from  its  rising  to  its  going  down.  That  there 
could  be  any  feeling  of  bitterness,  any  sense  that  he 
had  violated  another's  rights  or  outraged  another's 
position,  no  more  occurred  to  his  mind  than  such  an 
idea  occurs  to  the  Great  Turk  when  he  surveys  his 
harem. 

The  career  of  the  woman,  the  widow  of  a  comic 
poet  of  inferior  position,  who  succeeded  the  descend- 
ant of  Charles  V.  as  wife  of  the  most  powerful  king 
in  Europe,  excites  more  curiosity  than  that  of  dissolute 
beauties  like  Montespan  and  Fontanges.  "  Her  posi- 
tion is  unique  in  the  world,"  wrote  Mme.  de  Sevigne  ; 
"  no  one  ever  has  or  ever  will  occupy  another  like 
it."  ^  This  is  entirely  true,  and  it  is  equally  true  that 
while  the  influence  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  in  French 
1  Lettres,  vii.  287. 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT.  149 

history  has  been  grossly  exaggerated,  she  was  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  latter  years  of  Louis's  reign. 

Her  early  life  is  well  known.  The  daughter  of  a 
Huguenot  gentleman  of  dissolute  conduct  and  reduced 
fortune,  she  was  married  when  a  young  girl  to  the 
poet  Scarron.  He  surrounded  her  with  companions 
of  abundant  wit  and  scanty  morals,  and  left  her  a 
widow,  young,  charming,  and  poor.  Her  attractive 
manners  gained  her  friends ;  a  few  years  later  she 
was  appointed  governess  to  the  bastard  children  of 
Mme.  de  Montespan  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  this  humble 
position  proved  the  foundation  of  her  extraordinary 
fortune.  As  the  result  of  the  life  she  had  led,  we 
might  expect  to  find  a  person  vivacious  and  attrac- 
tive, but  of  fluctuating  morals,  and  to  whom  it  would 
seem  the  height  of  human  felicity  to  be  the  mistress 
of  a  king.  Mme.  de  Maintenon  shows  how  far  in- 
born character  remains  unaffected  by  its  environ- 
ment. She  had  already  espoused  two  religions ;  she 
had  seen  the  phases  of  poverty,  need,  and  shift.  As 
a  child,  she  had  tended  the  turkeys  in  her  aunt's 
chicken  yard.^  She  had  married  an  elderly  cripple, 
because  he  offered  to  furnish  her  a  home.^  She  had 
been  the  friend  of  Ninon,  the  most  famous  of  courte- 
sans ;  she  had  been  surrounded  by  men  and  women 
to  whom  religion  was  a  tradition  and  virtue  a  jest. 
She  now  took  charge  of  the  fruits  of  what  was  justly 
stigmatized  as  a  double  adultery  ;  her  patron  was  the 
mistress,  and  her  protector  was  the  lover.  Yet  no 
woman  brought  up  in  the  retirement  of  a  province, 

^  Conseils  aux  Demoiselles^  t.  i.  98. 

2  It  is  said  that  Scarron  offered  either  to  marry  her  or  to 
provide  for  her  in  a  convent.  She  chose  marriage,  though  it 
was  no  more  than  a  form. 


150         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

and  surrounded  only  by  priests  and  social  recluses, 
was  ever  more  steadfast  to  the  principles  of  religion 
and  discreet  conduct.  No  one  ever  realized  more  thor- 
oughly that  virtue  is  the  best  policy.  No  one  was 
ever  more  resolved  to  run  no  risk  of  eternal  damna- 
tion for  the  sake  of  transient  pleasures.  She  believed 
the  doctrine,  and  her  conduct  was  consistent  with 
her  belief.  She  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  lacking 
in  human  passion,  and  to  be  provided  in  the  highest 
degree  with  good  judgment  and  common  sense.  She 
could  say  with  truth,  "I  was  a  good  child,  and  by 
irreproachable  conduct  I  attracted  the  praise  of  every 
one."  ^  And  therefore  it  was  that,  not  only  to  her 
dear  pupils  at  St.  Cyr,  but  to  all  others,  she  became 
the  model  of  the  little  girl  who  was  always  good,  and 
was  rewarded  by  having  a  great  king  come  and  marry 
her ;  of  the  woman  who  always  said  wise  things  and 
never  did  foolish  ones,  and  who  secured  for  herself 
the  very  best  to  be  had  in  this  world  and  the  next. 

The  character  and  influence  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon 
have  been  subjected  to  grave  misconstruction,  as  the 
result  of  curious  literary  forgeries.  An  ingenious 
writer  in  the  last  century  published  what  purported  to 
be  her  correspondence,  in  which  was  contained  much 
that  she  did  write  and  much  that  she  did  not.  By 
far  the  most  interesting  letters,  those  that  seemed  to 
throw  light  on  great  historical  problems,  to  epitomize 
with  felicity  her  own  views  and  conduct,  in  her  va- 
ried career,  were  the  invention  of  an  editor  who  wished 
to  interest  and  amuse  his  public.  The  sentence  so 
often  quoted,  "  I  sent  him  away  always  despondent 
and  never  despairing,"  is  in  one  of  these,  and  was  no 
more  uttered  by  the  supposed  author  than  was  the  still 
^  Lettres  ed'ifiantesj  v.  926. 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT,  151 

more  famous  saying  constantly  attributed  to  Louis 
XIV.,  "L'Etat,  c'est  moi."  Critical  examination 
shows  us  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  famous 
remarks  of  great  men  were  afterwards  invented  for 
them  by  little  men.  The  penny-a-liner  indites  the 
apothegm  which  the  monarch  should  have  uttered.^  A 
century  later,  the  forgeries  of  La  Beaumelle  have  been 
exposed  ;  the  character  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  becomes 
more  commonplace,  and  we  can  see  clearly  what  man- 
ner of  person  she  was.  We  see  a  woman  who  gov- 
erned her  steps,  not  with  a  deep  and  subtle  policy,  but 
with  a  judgment  of  uncommon  clearness ;  who  was  sin- 
cerely anxious  for  the  king's  salvation,  and  still  more 
anxious  for  her  own;  and  to  whom  politics  were  of 
very  much  less  interest  than  her  relations  with  her 
confessor,  or  the  progress  of  the  school  at  St.  Cyr. 

In  assuming  the  charge  of  the  king's  illegitimate 
children,  Mme.  de  Maintenon  might  seem  to  counte- 
nance the  immoral  life  which  he  was  leading,  and  she 
exposed  herself  to  the  perils  of  an  existence  spent  in 
the  midst  of  a  licentious  court.  On  the  other  hand, 
her  position  brought  her  into  intimate  relations  with 
the  king,  and  might  prove  of  great  worldly  advan- 
tage ;  she  wished  to  retain  it,  and  at  the  same  time  she 
wished  to  be  safe.  "  I  wish  to  insure  my  salvation," 
she  wrote  her  confessor.^     But  she  felt  sure  of  herself 

1  These  letters  were  published  by  La  Beaumelle  in  1752.  The 
sagacity  of  Voltaire  led  him  to  doubt  the  authenticity  of  some 
of  them,  but  they  were  generally  accepted.  The  genuine  letters 
of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  can  be  found  in  Lettres  historiques  et  edi- 
fiantes,  Lettres  sur  V education  desjilles  et  Conseils  aux  demoiselles, 
6  vols,  in  all ;  Correspondance  Generale,  edited  by  Lavall^e,  4 
vols.  Many  are  still  unpublished,  and  she  burned  her  corre- 
spondence with  the  king. 

2  Correspondance  Generale,  i.  221,  September  13,  1674. 


152         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY.      , 

even  in  the  trying  situation  in  which  she  was  placed. 
"  I  know  that  I  can  insure  my  salvation  here,"  she 
wrote  again,  and,  with  the  spiritual  complacence  that 
is  often  found  in  those  whose  conception  of  religion  is 
as  narrow  as  hers,  she  added :  "  I  go  to  mass  once  al- 
ways, and  twice  on  certain  days  ;  I  think  often  of  God, 
and  dedicate  my  actions  to  Him.  ...  I  do  not  know 
my  sins.  I  have  good  intentions  and  so  I  do  little 
evil,  and  a  desire  to  be  esteemed  puts  me  on  my  guard 
against  my  passions."  ^  She  charged  her  confessor 
with  her  salvation,  and  to  him  she  appealed  for  con- 
stant direction.  She  wished  to  know  whether  she 
could  without  sin  join  the  king  in  the  repast  he  took 
at  midnight  on  the  close  of  fast  days,  and  whether 
her  stay  at  the  court  was  involving  her  in  any  possible 
peril.2  "Abandon  yourself  to  your  spiritual  guide 
like  a  child,"  she  wrote  a  friend ;  "  do  blindly  what 
he  says,  without  reasoning;  that  is  the  easiest  and 
the  safest  way."  ^  The  easiest  and  the  safest  way  was 
the  one  which  she  desired  to  follow.  She  remains 
an  illustrious  example  of  the  great  class  who  derive 
from  the  teachings  of  Christ  nothing,  save  a  desire  to 
secure  for  themselves  in  the  future  an  indefinite  con- 
tinuance of  agreeable  existence. 

No  one  could  remain  in  the  midst  of  the  intrigues 
and  gallantries  of  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  without 
giving  some  attention  to  earthly  interests.  The  posi- 
tion of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  seemed  at  first  an  obscure 

1  Maintenon  to  Abbd  Gobelin,  January  8,  1680.  It  is  just  to 
say  that  she  accused  herself  later  in  the  letter  of  being  worldly- 
minded,  and  too  free  in  her  judgments  ;  of  wicked  thoughts, 
though  not  of  wicked  deeds. 

2  Correspondance  Generale,  i.  207  et  passim, 
8  Ih.,  iii.  106. 


LOUIS  THE  GREAT.  153 

one,  but  she  soon  became  a  personage  who  could  not 
be  lightly  disregarded.  Mine,  de  Montespan  com- 
bined great  beauty  and  much  wit  with  a  violent  dispo- 
sition, and  she  did  not  always  spare  her  royal  lover. 
On  the  other  hand,  Mme.  de  Maintenon's  even  dispo- 
sition, her  good  judgment,  and  the  remarkable  charm 
of  her  conversation  gradually  attracted  the  king's  at- 
tention. He  was  not  a  brilliant  talker  himself,  but  he 
could  appreciate  agreeable  conversation.  He  found  in 
Mme.  de  Maintenon  a  woman  who  always  entertained 
him,  and  never  annoyed  him.  She  was  three  years 
older  than  he,  but  she  was  still  attractive  physically. 
We  have  no  need  of  apocryphal  letters  to  make  us 
sure  that  Louis  desired  her  for  his  mistress,  and 
that  she  was  steadfast  in  her  refusal  to  occupy  that 
position. 

Instead  of  that,  she  undertook  her  great  project  of 
the  king's  refo^^mation,  that  his  life  might  no  longer  be 
a  public  scandal,  and  his  eternal  safety  no  longer  be 
endangered.  It  is  impossible  that  she  could  have 
dreamed  of  becoming  Louis's  wife  as  the  result  of  such 
efforts.  The  queen  was  in  good  health,  and  bade  fair 
to  live  as  long  as  her  husband,  and  even  were  she  to  die, 
the  idea  that  Louis  XIV.  would  wed  one  of  his  own 
subjects,  and  one  of  comparatively  low  degree,  would 
have  been  regarded  as  the  hallucination  of  a  diseased 
mind.  She  probably  hoped  that  with  a  reformed  king 
she  could  enjoy  a  permanent  favor  that  would  be  con- 
sistent with  good  morals,  and  moreover  she  had  a 
natural  taste  for  conversions.  Later  in  life  she  un- 
dertook the  conversion  of  relatives  and  Huguenots 
from  love  of  the  work ;  and  to  lead  a  great  king  back 
to  the  paths  of  virtue  seemed  to  her  an  enterprise 
worthy  of  the  loftiest  Christian  zeal.     Bossuet  was 


154         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

engaged  in  the  same  endeavor,  and  with  manly  bold- 
ness he  reproved  the  king  for  his  immoral  life.  Louis 
was  a  good  Catholic,  a  timorous  Christian,  and  by  no 
means  a  hardened  sinner.  As  a  result  of  such  exhor- 
tations, the  king  resolved  to  renounce  his  evil  ways, 
and  amid  tears  and  sobs  he  bade  a  solemn  farewell 
to  Mme.  de  Montespan.  The  favorite  was  furious  at 
Bossuet.  She  offered  bribes  and  she  shed  tears,  but 
neither  availed.  She  was  still  more  indignant  at  the 
woman  whom  she  had  brought  into  intimate  relations 
with  the  king,  and  who  now  used  the  influence  she  had 
gained  for  her  benefactor's  overthrow.  It  was  in  vain 
that  Mme.  de  Maintenon  declared  that  she  was  act- 
ing in  the  way  to  secure  her  friend's  real  happiness, 
both  in  this  world  and  the  next.  Mme.  de  Montespan 
was  a  type  of  the  ordinary  royal  favorite,  greedy,  in- 
triguing, and  ambitious,  and  tranquillity  and  a  quiet 
conscience  were  not  what  she  understood  by  happiness. 
The  king  himself  proved  a  backslider.  He  was  again 
ensnared  by  the  charmer,  and  the  only  apparent  re- 
sults of  the  efforts  for  his  reformation  were  that  a  few 
years  later  he  had  three  mistresses  instead  of  one. 

Notwithstanding  this  ill  success,  Mme.  de  Mainte- 
non retained  her  favor,  and  continued  to  work  at  the 
task  which  she  had  undertaken.  Her  early  life  had 
taught  her  the  exceeding  discomfort  of  scanty  means. 
She  now  secured  herself  against  any  danger  of  such 
evils  in  the  future.  The  king  gave  her  the  property 
of  Maintenon ;  she  discarded  the  plebeian  name  of 
Scarron,  and  took  from  her  new  estate  the  title  by 
which  she  is  known  to  history.  Her  efforts  for  the 
reformation  of  the  king,  after  years  of  disappoint- 
ment, were  at  last  crowned  with  victory.  Louis  was 
becoming  older,  his  religious  instincts  grew  stronger 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT.  155 

with  years,  he  was  devoting  his  energies  to  a  great 
effort  for  the  extirpation  of  Protestantism  within  his 
dominions,  and  his  irregular  life  appeared  the  more 
unseemly  in  one  who  was  loudly  proclaimed  as  a 
champion  of  the  faith. 

Mme.  de  Montespan  was  again  discarded.  The 
other  mistresses  were  abandoned,  Louis  became  an 
exemplary  husband,  and  Mme.  de  Maintenon  held  her 
position  as  a  virtuous  favorite  and  a  Christian  adviser. 
In  July,  1683,  the  queen  suddenly  sickened  and  died. 
The  relations  of  ten  years  had  strengthened  Mme.  de 
Maintenon's  hold  upon  the  king's  respect,  and  upon 
his  affection.  She  had  refused  to  be  his  mistress,  and 
he  now  offered  to  make  her  his  wife.  The  marriage 
was  undoubtedly  decided  upon  within  a  very  few 
weeks  after  the  queen's  death.  It  was  not  often  that 
Mme.  de  Maintenon's  caution  allowed  any  indiscreet 
remark  to  go  on  paper,  but  in  September  she  wrote 
her  confesssor,  "  I  have  need  of  strength  to  make  a 
good  use  of  my  happiness."  ^ 

In  the  early  part  of  1684,  Louis  XIV.  was  pri- 
vately married  to  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  at  midnight,  in 
the  presence  of  a  few  witnesses  bound  to  secrecy.  He 
was  then  forty-five  and  she  was  forty-eight.  The  mar- 
riage was  never  publicly  acknowledged,  but  it  was 
generally  known  that  such  a  relation  existed  between 
the  parties.  At  state  ceremonials,  Mme  de  Mainte- 
non assumed  only  the  rank  to  which  she  was  nominally 
entitled,  but  in  private,  in  her  relations  with  the  king, 
with  his  family,  and  with  all  others,  her  actual  position 
was  really,  if  not  formally,  acknowledged.  She  was 
the  uncrowned  queen. 

Only  an  extraordinary  woman  could  have  tempted 
1  Mine,  de  Maintenon  to  Gobelin,  September  20,  1683. 


156         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

a  man  like  Louis  XIV.  to  contract  a  misalliance.  It 
is  still  stronger  proof  of  her  qualities  that  the  attach- 
ment, which  she  had  thus  aroused,  never  weakened. 
For  tnirty  years  she  was  Louis  XIV.'s  wife.  Dur- 
ing all  that  time  he  continued  a  devoted  husband,  and 
he  never  repented  of  his  act.  She  was  always  able  to 
amuse  him,  she  never  sought  to  push  her  influence  too 
far,  her  conversation  never  became  wearisome,  her 
advice  never  became  distasteful.  When  her  own  po- 
sition is  considered,  and  the  man  with  whom  she  had 
to  deal,  such  a  result  shows  a  rare  combination  of  tact, 
judgment,  intelligence,  and  the  power  to  please. 

Her  influence  on  Louis's  character  was  very  consid- 
erable. Had  it  not  been  for  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  his 
licentious  tastes  would  probably  have  continued  their 
course  until  his  advancing  years  might  have  been  as  in- 
decent as  those  of  his  successor.  It  was  due  to  her  that 
the  king's  old  age  was  dignified  and  seemly.  Prob- 
ably, however,  it  would  have  been  better  for  France 
if  the  latter  years  of  Louis  XIV.  had  been  devoted 
to  Barrys  and  Pompadours  instead  of  to  piety  and 
persecution. 

The  political  influence  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  was 
considerable,  but  it  has  been  much  exaggerated.  She 
took  an  active  interest  in  church  affairs  and  in  the 
selection  of  bishops,  but  she  was  not  the  woman  to 
instigate  the  king  to  any  novel  policy,  either  of  intol- 
erance or  of  ambition.  She  cared  more  about  St. 
Cyr  than  she  did  about  the  Edict  of  Nantes  or  the 
Spanish  Succession.  She  was  called  upon  to  give  an 
opinion  on  both  of  those  great  questions ;  on  both  of 
them  she  advised  wrong,  but  she  advised  as  the  king 
desired.  In  her  efforts  to  reform  Louis's  conduct  she 
appealed  to  his  religious  instincts,  and  unfortunately 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT.  157 

the  king's  return  to  religion  was  accompanied  by  an 
increasing  zeal  for  persecution.  It  is  in  this  way  only 
that  Mme.  de  Maintenon  can  be  regarded  as  largely 
responsible  for  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
She  approved  the  act,  and  so  did  almost  every  Catholic 
in  France,  until  experience  had  shown  its  disastrous 
results.  She  believed  that  those  who  died  Huguenots 
were  sure  to  be  eternally  punished.  She  was  honest 
in  her  conviction,  and  it  was  natural  and  even  praise- 
worthy that  she  should  endeavor  to  save  whom  she 
could  from  such  a  fate.  She  was  narrow  in  her  faith, 
but  she  was  sincere. 

Mme.  de  Maintenon  often  wearied  of  the  cares  and 
trials  of  her  great  position,  but  she  never  wearied  of 
the  school  of  St.  Cyr.  Instituted  by  her  to  furnish  an 
education  for  girls  of  good  families  but  small  means, 
—  the  class  to  which  she  had  herself  belonged, — 
she  devoted  to  it  a  constant  and  a  judicious  supervi- 
sion. The  school  became  fashionable,  and  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  court.  Eacine  wrote  plays  to  be 
there  acted ;  the  characters  were  taken  by  the  pupils, 
and  excited  more  interest  than  any  performance  by 
the  actors  of  the  king's  troupe.  Mme.  de  Maintenon 
saw  danger  for  the  pupils  from  such  publicity,  and 
checked  it.  She  was  indeed  an  admirable  directress, 
combining  experience,  judgment,  and  love  for  the 
work.  So  long  as  St.  Cyr  remained  a  school  for 
girls,  she  continued  its  patron  saint.  The  pupils 
were  taught  to  regard  her  as  the  greatest  and  wisest 
of  women.  Her  precepts  were  instilled  into  their 
minds ;  they  studied  her  letters  of  advice  as  rever- 
ently as  their  books  of  devotion.  To  have  doubted 
the  wisdom  of  any  precept  which  she  had  inculcated 
would  have   been   like  questioning  the  doctrines  of 


158         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

the  churcli.  A  century  later,  a  visitor  observed  at  St. 
Cyr  what  would  have  best  pleased  the  foundress,  — - 
angelic  purity  combined  with  Prussian  discipline. 

Never  in  modern  times  did  the  veneration  and  the 
love  for  a  king  approach  so  nearly  to  a  form  of  wor- 
ship as  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  It  was  the  re- 
ligion of  royalty.  During  the  defeats  and  the  misery 
of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  the  monarch 
became  odious  to  his  subjects.  He  was  an  old  man. 
The  time  comes  with  most  great  actors  in  public  life 
when  the  world  wearies  of  them,  and  so  it  was  with 
him.  But  during  the  long  years  of  his  success  and  of 
his  splendor,  he  was  regarded  with  admiration  and 
with  affection  by  the  most  of  his  subjects,  as  well  as 
by  those  who  immediately  surrounded  him.  The  in- 
stinct of  royalty  was  still  strong  in  the  French  mind. 
The  splendor  of  the  reign  was  gratifying  to  the  na- 
tional pride.  Louis  believed  that  the  rule  of  an  abso- 
lute king  was  the  best  form  of  government,  as  sincerely 
as  he  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
and  that  also  was  the  political  creed  of  his  people.^ 
We  may  well  include  this  reign  within  the  period  which 
led  up  to  the  Revolution,  but  as  yet  the  feeling  of 
reverence  for  the  kingly  office  existed  in  unabated 
force.  The  doctrine  of  divine  right  found  none  to 
question  it.  The  king  was  anointed  with  the  sacred 
oil  brought  from  heaven  by  a  dove  ;  he  still  touched 
the  afflicted,  and  the  divine  grace  imparted  to  him 
had  the  power  to  cure  human  ills.  When  Louis's 
grandson,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  was  born,  the  peo- 
ple were  wild  with  joy.  Bonfires  blazed  everywhere ; 
in  all  the  streets  tables  were  set  with  meat  and  wine ; 
passers-by  were  forced  to  stop  and  partake.  In  their 
1  CEuvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  i.  59. 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT,  159 

delirium  the  courtiers  even  embraced  the  king,  and 
he  allowed  such  a  familiarity  amid  the  tumult  of  joy 
^nd  excitement.^ 

As  a  mark  of  veneration  for  the  great  sovereign, 
statues  were  raised  to  him  in  almost  every  important 
city  of  France.  The  inscription  on  the  statue  at  Poi- 
tiers declared  Louis  the  Great  to  be  the  arbiter  of 
war  and  peace,  an  immortal  hero,  the  joy  of  the  world. 
.When  the  statue  was  unveiled,  the  orator  explained 
the  difference  between  the  service  due  to  God  and  to 
the  king,  and  said  that,  though  Louis  the  Great  did 
not  possess  all  the  infinite  perfections  which  pertained 
to  the  Creator  alone,  yet  he  had  those  qualities  which 
most  closely  approached  divinity,  and  which  made  him 
\  on  earth  its  image  and  representative.^  The  oration 
\was  read  by  the  king  with  approval,  and  he  rewarded 
)its  author  by  appointing  him  an  academician.^  When 
/the  statue  of  Louis  the  Great  was  dedicated  in  the 
\Place  des  Victoires  at  Paris,  the  governor  of  the  city 
and  the  civic  bodies  marched  about  it  with  solemn 
prostrations,  as  was  done  before  the  statues  of  the 
deified  emperors  of  Eome.  Nothing  was  wanting, 
says  a  contemporary,  but  the  incense  and  the  sacri- 
fices. The  Duke  of  La  Feuillade  craved  the  privilege 
of  burial  directly  under  the  image  of  his  master,  and 
even  contemplated  having  lamps  about  it,  which,  like 
those  in  consecrated  shrines,  should  burn  night  and 
day  in  token  of  perpetual  adoration.*  Another  con- 
temporary tells  us  that  when  certain  persons  passed 
through  Louis's  bed-chamber  they  made  a  deep  obei- 

1  Mem,  de  Choky ^  594  ;  Mem.  de  SourcheSy  i.  134. 

2  Relation  de  ce  qui  s^est  passe,  etc.,  August,  1687. 
^  Mem.  de  Foucault,  Introduction,  39. 

*  Mem.  de  Choisy,  602  ;  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  ii.  216. 


160  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

sance  to  the  couch  on  which  the  monarch  reposed  at 
night.i 

It  was  not  unnatural  that,  surrounded  by  such 
perpetual  incense,  the  king  should  feel  that  he  was 
far  removed  from  the  ordinary  lot  of  humanity.  It 
was  partly  from  this  cause  that  Louis,  who  was  a 
courteous  man,  so  often  seemed  unfeeling  in  reference 
to  others.  The  ladies  of  the  court,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family,  were  obliged  to  follow  him  in  weari- 
some journeys,  no  matter  how  wretched,  or  even  how 
critical,  might  be  their  condition  of  health.  He  would 
enter  the  chamber  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  who  often 
suffered  from  fever  or  from  headache,  and  who  had 
the  genuine  French  fear  of  a  draught  of  air :  at  once 
the  windows  were  thrown  open,  the  musicians  would 
play,  the  tumult  of  the  court  would  begin.^  Louis 
himself  had  perfect  health.  He  did  not  intend  to  cause 
discomfort  to  the  feelings  of  those  around  him,  but 
he  grew  egoistical  until  he  forgot  that  they  had  any 
feelings.  The  same  failure  to  appreciate  the  world 
about  him,  or  in  any  way  to  put  himself  in  the  position 
of  others,  led  to  some  of  his  gravest  political  mistakes. 
He  could  not  realize  that  affronted  and  despoiled  na- 
tions would  at  last  combine  against  him.  He  could 
not  understand  that  a  million  of  his  subjects  would 
not  at  his  command  abandon  the  beliefs  of  their  an- 
cestors, and  commit  their  salvation  to  the  Pope,  whom 
their  creed  stigmatized  as  the  Antichrist.  With  Louis 
XIV.  as  with  Napoleon,  egoism  became  a  disease,  and 
brought  its  own  punishment. 

^  Etat  de  la  France  en  1697.  This  usage  is  also  given  by  that 
worshiper  of  etiquette  under  Louis  XV.,  the  Duke  of  Luynes.  — 
Mem.,  ii.  290. 

*  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  xii.  132, 


LOUIS   THE  GREAT.  161 

The  character  of  the  sovereign,  who  is  no  longer 
called  Louis  the  Great,  seems  trivial  and  common- 
place when  we  compare  him  with  a  Cromwell  or  a 
Lincoln.  Yet  though  the  king  had  a  narrow  mind, 
a  limited  intelligence,  and  an  excessive  vanity,  he 
still  deserves  our  attention  and  our  praise.  If  Louis 
does  not  rank  high  intellectually,  he  was  a  master  of 
conduct,  of  the  art  which  regulates  the  external  rela- 
tions of  men.  It  is  a  phase  of  life  too  little  valued 
in  modern  existence,  but  the  good  manners  of  which 
Louis  XIV.  gave  an  example  to  the  world  have  their 
influence  upon  a  man's  character,  as  well  as  upon  his 
genuflections.  The  king  was  courteous  to  all  his  fel- 
low-men, no  matter  of  what  degree.  If  he  claimed 
the  deference  that  was  his  due,  he  was  equally  careful 
/to  give  to  others  the  courtesy  that  was  their  due.  He 
paid  to  women  the  respect  which  is  justly  claimed  as 
J  a  proof  of  the  advance  which  Western  civilization  has 
vmade  over  that  of  the  East.  Even  the  humblest 
female  servant,  when  she  met  the  king  of  France,  re- 
ceived from  him  some  mark  of  courteous  recognition.^ 
Louis  was  far  removed  from  the  vulgar  and  indolent 
voluptuaries  who  have  so  often  filled  an  inherited 
throne.  All  his  life  he  worked  regularly  and  consci- 
entiously. His  judgment  was  not  always  accurate, 
but  he  exercised  it  according  to  such  measure  of  light 
as  he  had.  He  had  an  elevated  conception  of  the 
office  which  he  held,  and  he  endeavored  to  live  up  to 
his  ideal.  He  attached  perhaps  an  undue  importance 
to  external  parade,  but  he  regarded  this  as  a  respon- 
sibility as  well  as  a  pleasure.  Once  he  was  obliged 
to  undergo  a  severe,  and  even  a  dangerous,  operation. 

1  Mem.  de  la  Duchesse  d^OrleanSy  i.  39  ;  Mem.  de  St.  Simon, 
xii.  76. 


162         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

Every  day,  no  matter  what  inconvenience  or  pain  it 
cost  him,  he  had  his  regular  audiences,  and  the  life  of 
the  court  went  on  around  him  as  usual.  "  We  are  not 
private  persons,"  he  said ;  "  we  owe  ourselves  to  the 
public."  ^  If  kings  were  raised  far  above  ordinary  hu- 
manity, they  must  show  their  superiority  by  indiffer- 
ence to  the  common  ills  and  disappointments  of  men. 

He  knew  how  injurious  was  a  slighting  word  when 
it  fell  from  royal  lips,  and  he  rarely  uttered  one. 
He  praised  with  a  delicate  grace;  he  did  not  often 
reprove,  and  when  he  did,  it  was  with  dignity  and  re- 
straint. If,  in  his  diplomatic  relations,  his  faith  was 
kept  to  the  ear  rather  than  to  the  sense,  in  his  private 
life,  when  he  gave  his  word  he  kept  it.  He  rarely 
promised  anything,  but  when  a  subject  had  once  re- 
ceived the  king's  engagement  he  need  disquiet  him- 
self no  more.  He  disliked  ill-mannered  tricks ;  he 
disliked  low  amusements;  he  never  lost  his  temper. 
He  sought  to  give  pleasure  to  all  whom  he  met,  and 
he  was  scrupulous  not  to  cause  pain  or  mortification, 
either  by  ill-nature  or  by  inadvertence.  He  justly 
deserved  to  be  called  a  gentleman. 

If  we  consider  the  kingly  office  in  its  external 
qualities,  in  all  that  appeals  to  the  popular  imagina- 
tion, that  excites  deference,  that  gratifies  the  taste  for 
splendor  and  pomp,  —  and  we  should  sadly  misjudge 
human  nature  if  we  thought  these  things  of  small 
importance,  —  no  man  on  the  world's  stage  has  better 
played  the  part  of  the  king. 

The  dignity  of  such  a  life  strengthens  the  character. 

The  latter  years  of  Louis's  reign  were  full  of  disaster. 

His  armies  were  unsuccessful ;  he  was  compelled  to 

beg  peace  from  enemies  whom  he  had  despised.     He 

1  Mem.  de  Sourches,  i.  464. 


LOUIS   THE   GREAT.  163 

was  mortified  in  his  pride  and  wounded  in  his  affec- 
tions. He  bore  himself  with  fortitude  ;  he  accepted 
what  was  inevitable  ;  he  resisted  manfully,  so  far  as 
resistance  was  possible.  Washington  at  Valley  Forge 
was  not  a  more  illustrious  example  of  the  manner  in 
which  adversity  should  be  faced.  A  great  man  Louis 
XIV.  certainly  was  not,  but  we  may  justly  call  him  a 
great  king. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  REVOCATION   OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 
1685. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  is  memorable  for  re- 
ligious enterprises  which  seem  inconsistent  in  their 
nature.  It  witnessed  a  systematic  and  long-continued 
oppression  of  the  members  of  a  faith  which,  for  almost 
a  century,  had  been  protected  by  the  law  of  the  land. 
At  the  same  time  Louis  was  involved  in  constant 
controversy  with  the  Holy  See,  and  was  more  hated 
at  Rome  than  any  French  king  since  Philip  the  Fair. 
It  might  seem  that  a  monarch  who  persecuted  his 
subjects  for  not  acknowledging  the  papal  authority, 
and  himself  refused  obedience  to  the  Holy  Father, 
was  probably  a  bigot  from  policy  and  an  innovator 
from  inclination.  Such  was  not  the  fact.  Louis  was 
not  one  of  those  who  have  just  religion  enough  to 
persecute.  He  was  led  on  to  his  fatal  policy  towards 
his  Protestant  subjects  by  the  combined  influence  of 
a  narrow  faith,  a  dull  mind,  and  a  stubborn  perti- 
nacity. The  history  of  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  is  a  record  of  folly  interspersed  with  cruelty. 
The  lamentable  failure  of  the  effort  to  destroy  dissent 
was  at  last  acknowledged,  even  by  those  who  had 
advised  it.  It  injured  France  without  extirpating 
heresy. 

The  growth  of  the  Huguenot  party  in  France  led 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES,      165 

to  the  civil  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  ad-^ 
herents  of  the  new  faith  increased  rapidly  in  numbers ; 
their  creed  was  espoused  by  many  of  the  most  power- 
ful nobles,  until  it  seemed  possible  that  Calvinism 
might  become  the  dominant  religion  of  the  state,  or 
at  least  might  establish  itself  on  terms  of  equality  with 
the  Catholic  Church.  But  the  mass  of  the  population 
remained  constant  to  the  belief  of  their  ancestors. 
The  result  of  the  civil  wars  was,  on  the  whole,  unfa- 
vorable to  the  Huguenots.  Their  position  was  weak- 
ened, also,  by  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  That 
butchery  is  now  condemned  by  those  of  every  creed  ; 
indirectly  it  injured  more  than  it  helped  the  church 
on  whose  behalf  it  was  undertaken.  Yet  the  massacre 
fulfilled  the  purpose  of  its  instigators  :  it  dealt  to  the 
Huguenot  party  a  blow  from  which  they  never  en- 
tirely recovered. 

Henry  of  Navarre,  a  Huguenot  by  birth,  became 
heir  to  the  French  crown.  It  was  impossible,  how- 
ever, for  him  to  become  the  king  of  France,  with  a 
recognized  and  peaceable  title,  unless  he  professed  the 
Catholic  faith.  He  attached  slight  importance  to  the 
distinctions  between  different  beliefs,  and  it  cost  him 
little  to  abjure  the  Huguenot  creed.  It  was  the  act 
of  a  statesman,  and  by  it  he  secured  peace  and  pros- 
perity for  his  subjects,  whether  Catholic  or  Calvin- 
ist.  While  Henry  yielded  allegiance  to  the  Pope,  he 
was  resolved  to  obtain  all  reasonable  toleration  for 
the  associates  of  his  early  years,  whose  blood  had 
been  freely  shed  in  his  behalf.  In  1598,  he  issued 
the  famous  Edict  of  Nantes.  By  this  the  Huguenots 
of  France  were  placed  in  a  position  which,  if  it  did 
not  content  the  ambition  of  their  leaders,  was  satisfac- 
tory to  all  who  had  been  contending  for  freedom  of 


166    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

conscience  and  liberty  to  worship  God.  They  were 
allowed  the  exercise  of  their  religion  in  the  places 
where  it  was,  as  matter  of  fact,  established;  they 
were  eligible  for  any  office ;  they  enjoyed  the  same 
political  rights  as  Catholics ;  courts  composed  of 
members  of  both  creeds  were  established  for  the  de- 
cision of  disputes  between  those  of  different  faiths. 
In  no  other  country  of  Europe  was  such  a  measure  of 
toleration  extended  to  those  who  refused  to  adopt  the 
religion  of  the  state.  It  went  beyond  the  desires  of 
the  Catholic  party  in  France,  and  would  only  have 
been  granted  by  a  sovereign  who,  like  Henry  IV.,  was 
destitute  of  strong  beliefs,  and  was  more  interested  in 
secular  than  in  religious  politics.  The  Parliament  of 
Paris  was  composed  of  magistrates  of  the  highest 
rank,  and  fairly  represented  the  educated  and  con- 
servative classes.  This  body  refused  to  register  the 
edict,  and  ceased  its  resistance  only  upon  the  repeated 
orders  of  the  king. 

The  death  of  Henry  IV.  was  followed  by  new 
troubles  for  the  Protestant  party,  but  the  responsi- 
bility of  these  must  rest  upon  their  own  leaders. 
Later  in  the  century,  the  Huguenots  were  treated  by 
Louis  XIV.  with  gross  injustice,  but  the  policy  of 
Richelieu  towards  them  strengthened  France,  without 
oppressing  religion.  Our/  sympathy  for  them  when 
the  victims  of  bigotry  should  not  blind  our  judg- 
ment upon  their  conduct,  when  it  was  governed  by 
ambition  instead  of  by  piety.  During  the  long  years 
of  civil  war,  the  Huguenots  had  been  driven  to  adopt 
some  form  of  organization  as  a  protection  against 
their  enemies.  The  need  for  such  an  organization  no 
longer  existed.  By  the  Edict  of  Nantes  they  had 
secured  the  right  to  worship  God  in  peace  according 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES,        167 

to  their  own  consciences.  Having  obtained  this,  they 
no  longer  required  captains  and  armies  for  their  pro- 
tection, nor  was  there  any  reason  why  they  should 
endeavor  to  become  a  distinct  military  and  political 
body  in  the  state.  During  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  however,  the  Huguenots  con- 
tinued to  occupy  a  position  for  which  there  was  no 
longer  a  justification.  They  divided  the  territory, 
where  their  members  were  numerous,  into  military 
departments,  under  the  command  of  influential  noble- 
men. Their  general  assembly  assumed  to  declare  war 
upon  the  government,  and  to  levy  taxes  upon  the 
faithful  for  its  prosecution.  The  Huguenots  allowed 
themselves  to  become  the  tools  of  ambitious  leaders  ; 
to  take  part  in  insurrections  that  had  no  excuse  but 
disappointed  ambition,  and  no  object  but  personal 
advancement.  Richelieu  resolved  to  destroy  their  po- 
litical organization,  and  in  this  endeavor  he  acted  in 
the  true  interest  both  of  the  French  monarchy  and  of 
the  Protestants  themselves.  He  was  successful  in  his 
attempt.  The  capture  of  La  Rochelle  marked  the 
end  of  the  Huguenot  party  as  a  disturbing  element 
in  France.  To  use  a  modern  expression,  they  retired 
from  politics.  They  mingled  with  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity as  citizens,  entitled  to  the  same  privileges  and 
subject  to  the  same  laws.^ 

While  Richelieu  laid  low  the  walls  of  their  for- 
tified towns  and  dissolved  their  circles  and  military 
organizations,  he  did  not  in  the  least  restrict  their 
religious  privileges.  He  was  a  sincere  Catholic,  and 
would  have  been  glad  to  lead  the  erring  sheep  into 

^  For  a  fuller  statement  of  the  position  of  the  Huguenot 
party  at  this  time,  I  would  refer  to  France  under  Richelieu  and 
Mazarin,  i.  83  et  seq. 


168    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

the  one  fold,  but  he  was  too  sagacious  a  statesman  to 
weaken  France  by  a  policy  of  persecution. 

The  Huguenots  now  entered  upon  a  period  of  tran- 
quillity and  prosperity.  Practically  they  were  undis- 
turbed in  the  profession  of  their  faith.  Doubtless  they 
were  often  subjected  to  petty  annoyances,  and  some- 
times to  injustice.  The  great  majority  of  the  people 
were  Catholics,  and  religious  toleration  had  not  en- 
tered into  the  habits  or  the  convictions  of  the  age. 
But  on  the  whole,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  fairly  car- 
ried out.  The  Huguenots  possessed  the  industry  and 
the  intelligence  which  usually  accompany  good  morals  ; 
they  were  thrifty  and  prosperous.  On  Sundays  they 
attended  their  temples  without  fear  of  disturbance, 
joined  in  singing  the  psalms  which  were  dear  to  them, 
and  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  discourses  of  ministers 
who  were  renowned  for  their  ability  and  their  prolixity. 
On  week  days  they  added  to  their  worldly  estates  with 
reasonable  success.  They  had  no  cause  to  be  dissatis- 
fied with  the  government,  and  they  were  entirely  loyal 
to  it.  During  the  wars  of  the  Fronde,  ambitious  no- 
blemen endeavored  to  induce  the  Huguenots  to  take 
up  arms,  but  they  piped  to  them  in  vain.  The  Prot- 
estants were  contented,  and  they  remained  peaceful. 

Mazarin  regarded  a  Huguenot  and  a  Catholic  with 
equal  favor.  The  cardinal  was  a  statesman  and  not 
a  priest,  and  he  was  imbued  with  the  tolerant  princi- 
ples of  modern  days.  Perhaps  it  was  because,  like 
Henry  IV.,  he  was  not  a  man  of  strong  beliefs. 
Huguenot  generals  led  armies  to  victory  during  his 
administration;  Huguenots  filled  important  positions 
in  the  finances.  He  recognized  the  steady  allegiance 
of  the  party  during  the  disturbances  of  the  Fronde, 
and  he  rewarded  it  with  favor.    "  The  little  flock  feeds 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      169 

on  poisonous  herbs,"  he  said,  "  but  it  does  not  wander 
from  the  fold." 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Protestant  party  in 
France  when  Mazarin  died  and  Louis  XIV.  assumed 
power.  Different  theories  have  been  advanced  as  to 
the  conduct  and  the  purposes  of  that  monarch.  It 
has  been  claimed,  on  the  one  hand,  that  he  early  re- 
solved upon  a  policy  of  persecution,  and  that  long 
years  were  occupied  in  systematic  preparation  for  the 
overthrow  of  heresy.  On  the  other  hand,  Louis  has 
been  represented  as  tolerant,  or  at  least  indifferent,  in 
his  early  years,  and  to  the  evil  influence  of  Mme.  de 
Maintenon,  assisted  by  Jesuit  confessors,  have  been 
ascribed  the  barbarities  of  the  dragonnades  and  the 
evils  of  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Nei- 
ther of  these  views  is  correct.  Louis  was  naturally  a 
bigoted  Catholic;  his  mind  was  narrow,  and  any 
conception  of  religious  toleration  was  outside  of  his 
njental  grasp.  Hardly  had  he  assumed  power  when 
he  resolved  to  restrict  the  privileges  of  the  Huguenots 
in  every  way  in  which  it  could  legally  be  done.  All 
temples  that  were  not  authorized  by  the  terms  of  the 
edict  were  to  be  destroyed ;  no  Protestant  could  hope 
for  promotion  in  the  councils  or  the  armies  of  Louis 
XIV.i  Unfortunately,  when  one  is  resolved  to  attack 
a  distasteful  minority  by  all  legal  means,  the  endeavor 
is  sure  to  lead  in  time  to  the  adoption  of  illegal  means. 

While  Louis  wished  to  draw  his  Huguenot  subjects 
from  the  errors  of  their  ways,  he  intended  that  they 
should  have  the  benefit  of  the  laws  which  already  ex- 
isted in  their  behalf.  Even  when  the  era  of  perse- 
cution had  fairly  begun,  the  king  disapproved  of  the 

1  See  this  policy  stated,  Instructions  aux  AmbassadeurSf  Rome, 
vi.  108,  April  17,  1662. 


170  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

violent  measures  which  his  agents  adopted  in  the  work 
of  persuasion,  and  to  a  large  extent  he  remained  in 
ignorance  of  the  brutality  and  oppression  by  which 
soldiers,  priests,  and  officials  sought  to  swell  the  list 
of  conversions.  It  is  creditable  to  his  character  that 
he  opposed  such  measures,  though  it  does  not  speak 
well  for  his  intelligence  that  he  was  deceived  as  to 
their  existence.  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  Louis 
prepared  what  may  be  called  a  manual  of  royalty  for 
the  use  of  his  son.  In  this  he  has  stated  the  views 
which  he  then  held  as  to  the  treatment  of  his  Protest- 
ant subjects.  He  declared  the  existence  of  the  sect  a 
calamity  which  he  regretted,  that  he  was  resolved  to 
grant  them  no  favor,  and  to  hold  them  to  the  letter  of 
the  law.  "  But  those  who  wish  to  employ  violence," 
he  writes,  "  do  not  understand  the  nature  of  the  evil."  ^ 
In  1663,  he  wrote  to  Charles  II.  remonstrating  against 
the  severities  which  the  English  Parliament  sought  to 
inflict  upon  Catholics,  and  appealing  to  the  modera- 
tion with  which  Huguenots  were  treated  in  France.^ 
Three  years  later,  we  find  a  letter  in  which  the  king 
declares  that  his  Protestant  subjects  were  as  faithful 
to  him  as  any  others,  and  should  receive  equal  consid- 
eration.^ 

Notwithstanding  these  professions,  which  were  rea- 
sonably sincere,  Louis  already  hoped  that  victories  over 
heresy  might  be  added  to  his  other  triumphs.  Twenty- 
one  years  before  the  revocation  of  the  edict,  the  French 
minister  at  Vienna  declared  that  his  master  was  most 
eager  to  extirpate  dissent,  and  that,  if  his  reign  con- 
tinued to  be  successful,  in  a  few  years  heresy  would 

1  (Euvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  i.  84-89. 

2  Louis  to  Charles  II.,  April  4,  1663. 

8  Louis  to  Duke  of  Saint  Aignan,  April  1,  1666. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      171 

be  extinct  in  France.^  Such  a  statement  received  no 
disavowal,  and  it  expressed  the  hopes  which  Louis 
already  entertained.  Still  he  desired  that  the  great 
work  should  be  accomplished  without  violence,  and 
that  the  Huguenots  should  be  converted  and  not 
persecuted. 

A  king  who  was  thus  disposed  was  encouraged  and 
incited  by  his  clergy.  The  two  cardinals  who  had 
ruled  France  for  almost  forty  years  had  given  little 
heed  to  ecclesiastical  counsels,  but  Louis  listened  will- 
ingly to  religious  advisers,  and  was  inclined  to  conform 
to  their  requests.  He  was  a  man  who  could  be  easily 
influenced,  and  the  advice  which  he  received  from  the 
clergy  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  operate  upon  his 
mind. 

Every  five  years  the  Gallican  Church  held  a  general 
assembly,  and  from  1660  to  1685  each  assembly  de- 
manded further  restrictions  upon  the  Protestants,  un- 
til at  last  there  was  nothing  left  to  ask.  The  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  has  been  declared  the 
work  of  Jesuit  confessors.  It  is  doubtful  if  Pere  la 
Chaise  gave  the  measure  any  more  hearty  approval 
than  did  Bossuet  and  Flechier.  The  Gallican  clergy 
deserve  no  special  condemnation  for  their  action ;  they 
must  be  judged  by  the  era  in  which  they  lived.  Tol- 
eration was  almost  unknown  outside  of  France.  It 
was  not  only  Catholic  countries,  like  Spain  and  Aus- 
tria, which  had  extirpated  heresy,  and  would  have 
undertaken  the  task  again  if  there  had  been  occasion 
for  it ;  the  cause  of  tolerance  fared  little  better  in  the 
most  enlightened  of  Protestant  nations.  When  Louis 
XIV.  in  1672  demanded  the  free  exercise  of  the  Cath- 
olic religion  in  Holland,  this  request  excited  deeper 
^  Grdmonville  to  king,  December  18,  1664. 


172         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

indignation  among  the  Dutch  than  his  endeavors  to 
rob  them  of  their  provinces  and  deprive  them  of  their 
commerce.  In  England,  not  only  the  Catholics  but 
Protestant  dissenters  were  subjected  to  injustice,  of 
which  the  end  has  hardly  been  reached  two  hundred 
years  later.  As  late  as  1696  a  man  was  hanged  in 
Edinburgh  for  heresy.^  Notwithstanding  the  mas- 
sacre of  St.  Bartholomew  and  the  dragonnades,  the 
history  of  religious  freedom  in  France  compares  favor- 
ably with  that  of  any  other  European  nation.  In  the 
march  of  toleration  France  has  often  been  in  the  van, 
and  has  rarely  been  far  in  the  rear. 

From  about  1675  we  find  a  noticeable  increase  of 
activity  in  the  endeavors  to  lead,  or  to  drive,  the 
Huguenots  into  the  fold  of  St.  Peter.  The  king  be- 
gan a  systematic  restriction  of  the  privileges  which 
they  enjoyed.  Complaints  were  made  that  temples 
had  been  erected  in  places  not  authorized  by  the 
edicts ;  a  commission  was  appointed  to  investigate 
these  charges,  and  its  decisions,  with  rare  exceptions, 
were  unfavorable  to  the  Protestants.  Louis  became 
more  strict  in  his  orthodoxy  as  he  grew  older.  The 
endeavors  of  Bossuet  and  Mme.  de  Maintenon  for  his 
conversion  stimulated  his  interest  in  religious  ques- 
tions. In  1678,  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen  was  signed. 
An  almost  unbroken  peace  of  ten  years  followed,  and 
this  respite  from  foreign  complications  afforded  the 
opportunity  for  undisturbed  religious  persecution.  It 
is  clear  that  by  this  time  Louis  had  formed  the  defi- 
nite purpose  of  extirpating  dissent  in  his  kingdom. 
He  was  led  on  alike  by  piety  and  by  ambition. 
Doubtless  he  believed  that  he  was  serving  God  in 
this  great  undertaking,  but  he  was  also  accomplishing 
^  Lea,  History  of  the  Inquisition^  i.  354. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      173 

what  would  add  to  Lis  own  eternal  renown.  He  had 
conquered  foreign  kings,  and  now  he  would  beat  down 
foreign  gods.  Posterity  should  see  that  the  forces  of 
heresy  yielded  to  the  arms  of  Louis  the  Great.^  It 
was  soon  discovered  that  the  favor  of  the  king  could 
be  secured  by  converting  heretics  in  Languedoc  as 
well  as  by  winning  battles  in  the  Lowlands,  and  Louis 
found  his  servants  only  too  zealous  in  carrying  out 
his  desires. 

The  most  of  the  Huguenot  nobility  had  already  de- 
serted the  faith  of  their  ancestors.  The  loss  of  royal 
favor  if  they  continued  constant  to  their  religion,  and 
promotion  and  pensions  if  they  abandoned  it,  were 
the  means  by  which  their  conversion  had  been  ef- 
fected. The  Marshal  of  Turenne,  the  greatest  soldier 
of  the  age,  at  last  followed  the  examples  which  had 
been  set  by  Condes  and  Colignis,  and  at  the  mature 
age  of  fifty-seven  renounced  the  errors  of  Calvinism. 
The  Huguenot  party  once  contained  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  greatest  families  in  France.  It  lost 
them  all.  Two  centuries  later  the  French  nobility  is 
still  noted  for  its  stanch  allegiance  to  the  Catholic 
Church. 

The  humbler  members  remained  more  constant  to 
their  faith.  They  were,  indeed,  less  exposed  to  tempta- 
tion. A  duke  or  a  viscount  might  be  allured  by  a  mar- 
shal's baton,  or  by  the  collar  of  the  Order  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  but  such  bribes  were  not  offered  to  a  silk 
weaver  of  Tours,  or  to  a  wine  merchant  of  Bordeaux. 
Nor  had  they  been  much  disturbed  by  efforts  for  their 
enlightenment.      Zealous   members   of    the    Catholic 

^  Expressions  such  as  these  can  be  found  in  innumerable  eulo- 
gies and  pamphlets  of  the  period.  The  praise  that  pleases  re- 
veals the  motives  of  the  actor. 


174    FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

clergy  had  occasionally  sought  to  rescue  a  soul  in 
danger  of  perdition,  but  no  organized  attempt  had 
been  made  for  the  conversion  of  the  Huguenots. 
Under  the  auspices  of  Louis  himself,  a  systematic 
endeavor  was  now  made  to  lead  the  entire  body  of 
French  Protestants  into  the  Church  of  Rome.  Per- 
suasion and  money  were  the  agencies  which  were  first 
relied  upon.  A  fund  was  set  apart  for  the  conversion 
of  heretics,  and  was  dispensed  by  bishops  and  officials 
in  religious  bribery.  The  sums  paid  for  converts 
were  small.  The  average  current  rate  was  about  six 
francs.  Pellisson  wrote  that  he  would  not  forbid  the 
payment  of  one  hundred  francs,  but  if  such  an  amount 
was  given  freely  it  would  unduly  increase  the  market 
price.^  The  persons  who  were  thus  induced  to  profess 
themselves  Catholics  were  naturally  very  questionable 
converts.  Some  claimed  to  be  Calvinists,  only  that 
they  might  receive  a  few  francs  for  changing  their 
faith.  Others  saw  an  opportunity  for  gaining  a  little 
money,  and  were  ignorant  or  careless  as  to  the  act  for 
which  they  received  it. 

Whether  genuine  or  fictitious,  many  renunciations 
were  reported  at  Paris,  and  they  stimulated  the  king  to 
persevere  in  the  task  which  he  had  undertaken.  Other 
inducements  were  offered  to  those  who  were  willing  to 
recant.  Ministers  who  abandoned  their  religion  were 
given  pensions.  The  new  converts,  as  they  were 
styled,  were  exempted  from  the  taille,  and  from  hav- 
ing soldiers  quartered  in  their  houses.  But  it  was 
soon  urged  that,  if  it  was  well  to  offer  inducements  to 
those  who  docilely  submitted  to  the  desire  of  their 
ruler  for  their  conversion,  it  was  also  desirable  that 
penalties  should  be  imposed  on  the  obstinate  who 
1  Memoire  de  Pellisson^  June  12,  1677. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       175 

refused  to  profess  the  true  faith.  If  a  Huguenot  ar- 
tisan had  renounced  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  was 
entitled  to  have  his  taxes  reduced,  and  to  be  freed 
from  the  annoyance  of  soldiers  living  in  his  family, 
was  it  not  both  just  and  expedient  that  his  more 
obstinate  companion  in  heresy  should  pay  a  double 
tax,  and  should  have  soldiers  billeted  upon  him  until 
he  saw  the  fallacies  of  Calvinism?  Thus  the  pay- 
ment of  rewards  for  conversions  led  to  a  system  of 
penalties  for  those  who  would  not  be  converted.  Al- 
most every  bishop  and  superintendent  sent  to  Paris 
a  suggestion  for  some  new  edict,  by  which  the  con- 
dition of  those  who  continued  Huguenots  could  be 
made  more  miserable,  and  hardly  any  suggestion  was 
declined.  The  five  or  six  years  which  preceded  the 
revocation  were  filled  with  a  mass  of  incoherent  and 
confused  legislation,  directed  against  the  Protestants 
in  France.  They  could  not  hold  any  public  offices ; 
they  could  no  longer  pursue  the  profession  of  an  ad- 
vocate or  a  doctor;  their  schools  were  closed;  they 
were  excluded  from  many  trades ;  they  could  not  be 
apothecaries.  The  women  could  not  act  as  mid  wives, 
lest,  through  their  godless  indifference,  some  new-born 
babe  should  die  unbaptized,  and  thus  incur  eternal 
damnation.^  A  measure  more  odious  than  any  of 
these  declared  that  children  seven  years  of  age  were 
competent  to  decide  upon  their  religious  creed.^  An 
infant  of  seven  or  eight,  that  could  comprehend  reli- 
gious questions  no  more  than  it  could  the  squaring  of 
the  circle,  was  induced  to  utter  some  word,  to  sign 
some  paper,  which  expressed  a  belief  in  Catholicism. 

1  Declarations,  February  20,  1680 ;  June  15,  1682  ;  July  11, 
1685 ;  August  6,  1685,  etc. 

2  Declaration^  June  17,  1681. 


176    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Forthwith  it  was  declared  to  be  converted.  It  might 
be  taken  away  from  the  home  of  its  heretical  parents. 
They  must  j^ay  for  its  support,  though  deprived  of  the 
charge  of  its  spiritual  and  physical  welfare.  No  law 
could  be  devised  which  should  furnish  occasion  for 
more  odious  interference,  should  cause  more  heart- 
breaking separations.  It  enabled  the  crafty  priest, 
the  zealous  proselyter,  to  carry  misery  into  almost 
every  Protestant  household  in  France.  The  example 
set  by  Mme.  de  Main  tenon  illustrates  the  methods 
practiced  by  those  eager  for  the  work.  Her  cousin 
still  remained  a  Huguenot,  and  refused  to  allow  his 
children  to  be  educated  as  Catholics.  Thereupon  he 
was  ordered  to  sea  on  a  cruise,  and  in  his  absence 
Mme.  de  Maintenon  seized  the  children,  and  had  them 
placed  in  Catholic  schools.  The  father  returned  to 
pour  out  his  wrath  on  his  kinswoman,  but  it  was  in 
vain.  She  had  obtained  the  prey,  and  she  declined 
to  relinquish  it.  She  had  stolen  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;  she  had  fraudulently  rescued  the  children  from 
the  clutches  of  the  enemy,  and  she  would  not  surren- 
der them  to  a  heretic.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
they  were  soon  induced  to  profess  themselves  Catholics. 
The  daughter,  who  was  then  nine  years  old,  has  told  us 
the  story  of  her  conversion.  She  was  pleased  with  the 
music  in  the  royal  chapel,  and  she  agreed  to  become 
a  Catholic  if  she  were  allowed  to  hear  it  daily,  and 
guaranteed  against  any  more  whippings.^  By  such  ar- 
guments children  were  made  Catholics ;  and  when  the 
infantile  profession  had  once  been  made,  the  severest 
penalties  were  imposed  upon  parents  who  interfered 
with  the  belief  which  their  offspring  had  adopted. 

1  Souvenirs  de  Mme.  de  Caylus,  478,  479,  ed.  Michaud  ;  Corre" 
spondance  Generale  de  Mme.  de  Maintenon ,  ii.  167  et  pas. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       177 

The  most  odious  oppression,  and  that  which  has 
most  impressed  posterity,  grew  out  of  the  billeting  of 
soldiers  upon  Protestant  families.  In  the  thing  itself 
there  was  nothing  new.  It  was  an  indirect  mode  of 
taxation,  to  which  a  large  proportion  of  the  people 
had  long  been  subjected.  When  the  soldiers  were 
stationed  in  any  district  in  France,  they  might  law- 
fully be  quartered  upon  the  population,  and  the  sol- 
dier had  the  right,  in  the  house  to  which  he  was  as- 
signed, to  dishes  upon  which  to  eat,  a  bed,  a  seat  by 
the  fire,  and  a  place  by  the  candle.^ 

Such  an  institution  was  liable  to  abuse,  even  when 
the  strictest  injunctions  for  good  order  were  imposed 
upon  the  soldiers.  It  was  easy  to  see  what  misery 
they  could  inflict,  when  they  understood  that  their 
duty  was  to  convert  their  hosts  by  making  life  dis- 
agreeable for  them.  To  Marillac,  superintendent  of 
Poitiers,  belongs  the  gloomy  distinction  of  having  first 
used  the  soldiers  as  a  means  of  conversion ;  upon 
Louvois,  the  minister  of  war,  rests  the  responsibility 
of  having  allowed  it.  In  1681,  a  regiment  of  dragoons 
was  sent  into  Poitou  to  be  quartered  upon  the  Hu- 
guenots who  had  refused  to  be  converted,  and  from 
them  the  ill-omened  name  of  the  dragonnades  had  its 
origin.  The  superintendent  was  ordered  to  see  that 
the  dragoons  committed  no  disorders  in  the  houses 
where  they  were  stationed ;  and  as  complaints  of  their 
conduct  reached  Versailles,  vigorous  remonstrances 
were  sent  to  Marillac.^  They  were  unheeded,  as  simi- 
lar remonstrances  were  unheeded  during  the  years 
that  followed.  The  local  officers  were  fierce  in  their 
zeal,  and  apprehended  nothing  worse  than  mild  cen- 

^  Reglement,  November  12,  1661. 

2  Louvois  to  Marillac,  March  18,  May  7,  August  23,  1681. 


178  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

sure  if  they  sinned  from  excess  of  fervor  in  the  good 
work.  They  knew  that  the  king  was  pleased  when 
long  lists  of  conversions  were  sent  to  him,  and,  if  he 
was  over-nice  as  to  the  means  employed,  they  did  not 
feel  bound  to  respect  his  scruples.  Who  wishes  the 
end  wishes  the  means,  was  the  motto  adopted  by  the 
agents  of  the  government.  It  needed  no  great  saga- 
city to  see  that  when  an  ignorant  and  brutal  soldiery 
were  quartered  upon  those  whom  they  regarded  as 
obstinate  heretics,  with  the  avowed  object  of  driving 
them  to  abandon  their  faith,  they  would  regard  any 
excesses  not  only  as  venial,  but  as  praiseworthy. 

The  efforts  of  Marillac  produced  many  converts,  but 
nevertheless  the  government  ceased  for  a  while  the 
use  of  the  instrument  of  conversion  upon  which  he 
had  relied.  Louis  was  annoyed  because  frequent  com- 
plaints came  to  him  of  the  cruelties  perpetrated  by 
the  soldiers ;  the  reports  of  their  sufferings,  which  the 
Huguenots  carried  all  over  Europe,  excited  an  out- 
cry that  was  unwelcome  at  Versailles.  This  lull  in 
persecution  was  followed  by  a  fiercer  outburst.  En- 
couraged by  the  appearance  of  greater  lenity,  some  of 
the  Protestants  undertook  to  rebuild  churches  that  had 
been  destroyed,  and  in  places  there  were  trifling  dis- 
turbances. It  was  absurd  for  the  ministers  of  Louis 
XIV.  to  claim  that  there  was  any  danger  of  serious 
resistance  from  the  Huguenots.  The  authority  of  the 
king  was  firmly  established,  and  the  Protestants  had 
neither  the  power  nor  the  inclination  to  resist  the 
measures  which  the  government  adopted.  Yet  the 
least  trace  of  insubordination,  when  their  churches 
were  burned,  their  meetings  dispersed,  or  their  wives 
insulted,  was  treated  as  rebellion  against  the  king. 
The  charge  of  the  measures  against  the  Protestants 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       179 

was  assumed  by  Louvois,  and  he  proceeded  with  as 
little  mercy  as  when  he  gave  the  Palatinate  over  to 
fire  and  pillage.  Louis  was  always  irritated  by  any 
resistance  to  his  wishes,  and  the  djelay  of  the  Hugue- 
nots in  doing  what  he  desired  hardened  his  heart 
against  them.  He  was  urged  on  by  confessors,  bishops, 
and  ministers  to  the  great  work  of  conversion.  In 
1683,  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots  was  again  in 
full  blast,  and  it  was  not  relaxed  until  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  had  been  revoked,  and  the  public  observance 
of  the  Huguenot  faith  had  been  forbidden  in  France. 
The  year  1685  was  the  great  epoch  for  missionary 
activity,  and  the  dragonnades  were  directed  by  the 
fiery  zeal  of  Louvois.  In  B^arn,  in  Guienne,  in  Lan- 
guedoc,  in  all  the  districts  where  the  Protestants 
were  numerous,  soldiers  were  sent  to  be  quartered  on 
those  who  remained  obstinate.  The  superintendents 
asked  for  dragoons  to  second  the  missionaries,  and 
their  requests  were  granted.^  It  is  true  that  orders 
were  also  sent  to  allow  no  excesses.  The  Huguenots 
might  be  compelled  to  furnish  the  soldiers  food  and 
shelter,  until  they  were  willing  to  declare  themselves 
Catholics,  but  no  other  violence  must  be  exercised.^ 
It  was  impossible  that  these  directions  could  be  en- 
forced among  troops  sent  on  such  an  errand.  The 
object  of  the  superintendents  was  to  make  converts, 

1  Journal  de  Foucaulty  79.  Foucault  was  superintendent  in 
Bdarn  in  1685,  and  his  journal  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
authorities  as  to  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots.  The  official 
correspondence  of  Louvois  contains  full  particulars  of  the  prog- 
ress and  the  extent  of  the  dragonnades. 

2  Louvois  to  Boufflers,  July  31,  1685,  August  22,  etc.  It  was 
much  like  a  general's  turning  soldiers  loose  into  a  captured  city, 
and  telling  them  to  remember  to  be  civil  to  the  ladies,  and  not 
to  break  the  furniture. 


180         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

and  the  troops  pleased  them  best  whose  labors  were 
most  efficacious.  At  the  least  sign  of  resistance, 
orders  for  violent  measures  came  from  the  war  office 
itself.  "  You  may  increase  the  allowance  for  food  ten 
times,"  Louvois  wrote  the  superintendent  at  Dieppe, 
"  and  permit  the  cavalry  to  make  whatever  disorder  is 
necessary  in  order  to  drive  those  people  from  their 
position,  and  furnish  an  example  which  will  help  to 
convert  others."  ^ 

The  extent  of  the  cruelties  practiced  was  perhaps 
exaggerated  by  the  sufferers,  but  it  is  certain  that 
they  were  a  disgrace  to  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  If 
the  soldiers  did  no  worse,  they  wasted  the  substance 
of  those  on  whom  they  were  billeted  in  riotous  eating 
and  drinking.  When  the  unhappy  Huguenot  could 
furnish  them  no  more  money  to  buy  supplies,  they 
sold  his  furniture  ;  and  when  the  proceeds  of  that 
were  gone,  he  might  be  thrown  into  prison  .^  The  pe- 
cuniary losses  were  not  the  worst  of  this  oppression. 
Even  when  the  soldiers  did  not  indulge  in  actual  vio- 
lence, they  often  made  a  hell  of  the  houses  in  which 
they  were  quartered.  They  insulted  the  wives,  and 
cracked  foul  jests  with  the  daughters.  They  kept  the 
family  awake  all  night  with  singing  and  carousing, 
with  drinking  liquor  at  their  expense,  and  roaring  out 
indecent  ditties.  They  entered  an  orderly  and  reli- 
gious household,  and  existence  there  became  like  life 
in  a  brothel  or  a  dramshop. 

Sometimes  their  practices  far  exceeded  even  these 
devices  for  making  existence  unendurable.     Men  were 

1  Louvois  to  feeauprd,  17  and  19  November,  1685;  Louvois  to 
Foueault,  November  17,  1685. 

2  Louvois  to  Bezons,  November  27,  1685  ;  Louvois  to  Fou- 
eault, December  17,  1685. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES,       181 

hung  up  by  their  thumbs  to  the  timbers  of  their  own 
cottages,  because  their  views  on  purgatory  or  tran sub- 
stantiation were  not  acceptable  to  the  dragoons  about 
the  hearth.  A  wife  was  tied  to  the  bedpost  while 
the  soldiers  toasted  her  husband's  naked  feet  by  the 
fire.  Many  were  thrown  into  loathsome  prisons  for 
not  observing  some  edict.  A  minister  seventy-two 
years  old,  who  had  preached  in  violation  of  law,  was 
broken  upon  the  wheel.^ 

The  best  proof  of  the  severity  of  the  dragonnades 
is  the  effect  they  produced.  Many  became  Catholics 
through  other  means  of  persuasion,  but  it  was  the 
fear  of  the  soldiers  which  converted  whole  provinces 
in  a  week.  "  It  is  certain  that  the  mere  approach  of 
the  troops  will  produce  a  great  number  of  conver- 
sions," said  the  superintendent  of  Bearn.^  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Aix  confessed  that  the  fear  of  the  dragoons 
persuaded  many  more  than  either  his  money  or  his 
eloquence.^  "  Crowds  of  former  heretics,"  wrote  a 
superintendent,    "now   sing   Te    Deums   within    the 

^  Mem.  de  Cosnac,  ii.  120.  Cosnac  endeavored  to  convert  him 
before  his  execution,  but  in  vain.  The  authorities  for  the  severi- 
ties practiced  upon  the  Huguenots  are  to  be  found  in  innumer- 
able books  and  pamphlets  published  by  refugees.  Benoit,  a 
refugee,  in  his  Histoire  de  VEdit  de  Nantes^  has  devoted  five 
large  volumes  to  the  subject,  which  contain  much  of  value, 
though  he  writes  from  a  strong  partisan  standpoint. 

2  Mem.  de  Foucaultf  118. 

8  Alem.  de  Cosnac^  ii.  111.  "  J'avoue  que  la  crainte  des  dra- 
gons et  les  logements  dans  les  maisons  des  h^retiques  y  pou- 
voient  contribuer  beaucoup  plus  que  moi,"  he  says,  speaking  of 
the  result  of  his  own  exertions.  *'The  Huguenots  are  ill-dis- 
posed," writes  the  superintendent  of  Orleans,  *'  si  Ton  n'ayde  la 
parole  de  Dieu  de  I'approche  de  quelques  troupes." —  Cor.  des  Con, 
Gen.f  i.  73.  Such  expressions  are  very  frequent.  They  sound 
blasphemous,  but  they  were  not  so  regarded  by  the  writers. 


182  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

churches,  and  cry  '  Vive  le  roi  !  '  without."  "  Every 
bulletin,"  writes  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  "  tells  the  king 
of  thousands  of  conversions."  ^ 

In  Beam,  where  there  had  been  22,000  Protestants, 
soon  but  400  were  left.  The  superintendent  has  re- 
lated his  religious  victories  in  a  business-like  manner. 
"  I  went  to  Pontacq,"  he  says,  "  with  the  bishop,  to 
work  at  conversions."  In  two  days  they  made  a  hun- 
dred proselytes.  "  Orthez  was  the  last  place  to  be  con- 
verted. I  sent  the  soldiers  there,  who  brought  them  to 
terms."  ^  In  other  districts  the  progress  was  even  more 
rapid.  In  the  generality  of  Bordeaux  60,000  changed 
their  faith  in  twenty  days.^  The  city  of  Orange  was 
turned  from  its  heresy  in  a  single  day.  Only  one  min- 
ister remained  obstinate.  "  As  for  the  judges  of  the 
Parliament,"  wrote  the  officer  in  charge,  "  they  would 
have  declared  themselves  Mahometans  if  I  had  de- 
sired."^ The  time  in  which  the  work  of  enlighten- 
ment would  be  completed  was  predicted  with  accuracy. 
In  Languedoc,  where  there  were  almost  200,000  Prot- 
estants, the  Duke  of  Noailles  wrote  that  by  November 
25  the  province  would  contain  no  more  Huguenots. 
Encouraged  by  the  rapidity  of  the  work,  he  wrote 
again  that  he  had  asked  until  November  25,  but  the 
month  of  October  would  be  as  much  time  as  he  should 
require.^     It  was  indeed   ample.     There  were   more 

^  Lettres  edijiantes,  i.  316. 

2  Memoire  de  Foucault,  101,  125,  127. 

3  Louvois  to  Con.  Gdn.,  September  7,  1685. 
^  Tess^  to  Louvois,  November  13,  1685. 

^  Noailles  to  Louvois,  cited  in  Rulhiere,  Eclair cissements  his* 
toriques  sur  les  causes  de  la  revocation  de  Vedit  de  Nantes,  i.  317- 
319.  Noailles  states  the  number  of  Huguenots  in  Languedoc  at 
240,000,  but  the  more  trustworthy  figures  of  D'Aguesseau  put  it 
at  182,787.  — i>.  (r.,  795. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      183 

Huguenots  in  Languedoc  tlian  in  any  other  province 
in  France.  In  a  few  days  all  but  an  insignificant 
fraction  were  enrolled  as  Catholics. 

The  nature  of  the  conversions  which  were  thus  ob- 
tained may  be  easily  imagined.  Superintendents  and 
bishops  were  not  disturbed  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their 
victims,  nor  exacting  as  to  the  form  of  abjuration  to 
be  required.  Some  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  at  the 
bottom  of  a  paper  held  by  a  dragoon.  Others  were 
claimed  as  proselytes  if  they  would  say  the  words 
"  Jesus  Maria."  Meetings  were  called  of  the  Protest- 
ants in  some  town  or  city ;  a  motion  was  made  that 
they  adopt  the  Catholic  faith ;  it  was  carried  without 
resistance,  and  all  the  inhabitants  were  at  once  re- 
ported as  converted.  A  panic  spread  through  the  Prot- 
estant population.  In  one  province  after  another  it  was 
announced  that  the  Huguenots  had  abandoned  their 
belief.  Terrified  and  disheartened,  the  bulk  of  the 
French  Huguenots  submitted  to  any  form  of  abjuration 
which  would  free  them  from  present  evils,  with  little 
thought  of  what  might  be  the  final  results  of  their  act. 

It  is  curious  that  professions  thus  made  and  thus 
obtained  should  have  furnished  any  satisfaction  to 
those  who  honestly  believed  in  the  Catholic  religion, 
or  that  it  should  have  been  hoped  that  men  and 
women  whose  conversions  were  due  to  the  fear  of  out- 
rage and  ruin  would  imbibe  a  saving  conviction  of 
Catholic  truth.  But  such  a  belief  accorded  with  the 
desires  and  prejudices  of  the  time.  Te  Deums  were 
sung  and  guns  were  fired  as  the  news  came  of  the 
great  victories  of  the  faith.  The  palace  and  grounds 
of  Versailles  were  magnificently  illuminated.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Louis  thought  that  the  work  had  been 
accomplished,  and  that  practically  all  of  his  subjects 


184    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

were  now  adherents  of  the  one  church.  The  king 
desired  the  result  so  greatly  that  he  was  eager  to  be- 
lieve that  it  had  been  achieved.  The  fact  that  Prot- 
estantism had  practically  ceased  to  exist  was  urged  as 
a  reason  for  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  The 
opinion  of  two  theologians  and  two  jurisconsults  was 
asked  for  the  king's  enlightenment.  They  advised  him 
that  he  might  lawfully  revoke  the  edict,  and  that  by 
so  doing  he  would  promote  the  welfare  of  religion  and 
of  his  people.  A  memorial  was  presented  which  sug- 
gested that  such  an  act  might  drive  the  Huguenots 
from  France  and  weaken  the  kingdom.  Louis  replied 
that  he  had  reflected  upon  this,  but  reasons  of  interest 
were  unworthy  of  consideration  when  compared  with 
the  advantages  of  a  measure  that  would  insure  tran- 
quillity for  the  state,  would  restore  to  religion  its  for- 
mer splendor,  and  to  authority  its  lawful  rights.  The 
council  was  unanimous  for  the  revocation.^ 

On  October  17,  1685,  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  was  signed  by  the  king,  and  on  the  22d  it 
was  registered  with  the  Parliament  of  Paris.  The 
Huguenot  pastors  were  ordered  to  leave  the  country 
within  fifteen  days ;  all  Protestant  temples  were  to  be 
destroyed  at  once,  and  the  exercise  of  that  form  of 
worship,  either  in  public  or  private,  was  forbidden  in 
France.2  The  repeal  was  received  with  applause  by 
the  whole  Catholic  population.  Of  all  the  acts  of 
Louis  XIV.,  this  was  the  one  upon  which  praise  and 
eulogium  were  most  lavishly  bestowed.  The  official 
instrument  was  said  to  have  been  hastened  that  the 
aged  Le  Tellier  might  execute  it  as  chancellor.  "  Lord, 
now  lettest  thou   thy  servant   depart  in   peace,"  he 

*  Memoire  of  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
2  Mem.  de  Foucault,  135  et  seq. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      185 

exclaimed,  as  he  set  his  seal  to  the  paper  by  which  dis- 
sent was  abolished.  A  few  days  later  he  died,  declar- 
ing this  to  be  the  crowning  act  of  fifty  years  of  public 
service.  Crowds  from  Paris  rushed  out  to  the  great 
temple  at  Charenton,  which  could  hold  14,000  wor- 
shipers, and  tore  it  down  amid  frantic  enthusiasm. 
The  Parliaments  had  protested  against  the  Edict  of 
Nantes ;  they  registered  its  revocation  with  unani- 
mous approval.  Mme.  de  Sevigne  expressed  the  sen- 
timents of  polite  society  when  she  wrote  that  the  king 
had  done  nothing  so  memorable,  and  declared  the 
dragoons  to  have  been  good  ministers,  whose  work 
the  missionaries  would  now  perfect.^  Engravings  rep- 
resented angels  bearing  the  revocation  to  Bossuet  and 
La  Chaise,  while  Louis  stood  by  ready  to  affix  his 
name.  Poets  declared  this  to  be  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  the  greatest  of  monarchs.  ^ 

Amid  the  general  outpouring  of  praise,  the  voice 
of  the  clergy  was  most  distinct.  Bossuet  proclaimed 
Louis  XIV.  a  new  Constantine,  a  Theodosius,  and  a 
Charlemagne,  who  had  sustained  the  faith  and  exter- 
minated heresy.  His  hearers  were  bidden  to  love  the 
piety  of  Louis,  and  to  make  the  heavens  resound  with 
their  acclamations.  "  The  work  is  worthy  of  your 
reign  and  of  yourself,"  said  the  great  preacher. 
"  Heresy  is  no  more.  .  .  .  May  the  King  of  Heaven 
preserve  the  king  of  earth.  It  is  the  prayer  of  the 
churches ;  it  is  the  prayer  of  the  bishops."  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Aix,  acting  as  spokesman  of  the  general  as- 
sembly, predicted  that  the  destruction  of  heresy  would 
redound  more  to  Louis's  fame  than  all  the  triumphal 
arches  which  commemorated  his  other  achievements.^ 

1  Lettres  de  Sevigne,  vii.  470. 

2  Discourse  at  the  assembly  of  clergy  in  1690. 


186    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Thirty  years  later,  the  saintly  Massillon  declared  that 
in  the  interests  of  pure  religion  Louis  had  despised 
the  timid  counsels  of  earthly  wisdom,  and  that  the 
destruction  of  profane  temples  more  than  compen- 
sated France  for  what  she  had  lost  in  wealth  and 
citizens.^ 

However  much  Louis  was  exalted  as  the  destroyer 
of  heresy,  the  fact  that  the  mass  of  the  new  con- 
verts remained  Huguenots  at  heart  soon  became  ap- 
parent, even  to  the  dullest.  Indeed,  the  subjects  of 
persecution  believed  for  a  while  that  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  would  make  their  lot  more 
tolerable.  The  last  clause  had  stated  that,  until  God 
enlightened  them,  the  unconverted  Huguenots  might 
remain  tranquilly  in  France,  continue  their  occupa- 
tions, and  enjoy  their  property.  While  their  public 
worship  was  forbidden,  the  Protestants  hoped  that 
at  least  they  would  be  left  in  peace,  and  that  the  era 
of  persecution  was  passed.  In  fact,  by  no  edict  did 
either  Louis  XIV.  or  his  successors  declare  that  a 
Protestant  could  not  live  in  France.  It  was  at  any 
outward  observance,  and  not  at  the  inward  belief, 
that  their  ordinances  were  directed.  The  hope  of 
toleration  excited  by  the  wording  of  the  edict  was 
dispelled  by  the  conduct  of  the  officials.  A  letter  of 
Louvois  stated  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  reference 
to  the  Huguenots  :  "  His  Majesty  wishes  that  every 
means  shall  be  used  to  show  them  that  they  can  ex- 
pect neither  repose  nor  favor,  so  long  as  they  continue 
in  a  religion  which  is  distasteful  to  him.  Those  who 
desire  the  stupid  glory  of  being  the  last  to  renounce 
it  may  receive  much  more  severe  treatment."  ^ 

^  Oraison  funebre  de  Louis  XIV. 

2  Louvois  to  Noailles,  November  6,  1685. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      187 

Most  of  the  Protestants  were  involved  in  legal 
meshes  of  the  most  serious  nature.  By  whatever 
means  they  had  been  driven  to  declare  themselves 
Catholics,  when  once  they  had  assumed  that  position 
they  were  exposed  to  new  and  cruel  legislation.  The 
converts  who  again  joined  in  the  service  of  the  re- 
ligion which  they  believed  in  their  hearts,  but  which 
they  had  renounced  with  their  tongues,  could  now  be 
punished,  not  as  Huguenots,  but  as  apostate  Catho- 
lics. The  ordinances  directed  against  this  unhappy 
class  were  of  the  most  odious  nature.  Many  who  had 
sought  to  obtain  tranquillity  by  a  nominal  profession 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  when  the  hour  of  death  came, 
dared  not  die  with  a  lie  upon  their  conscience.  They 
confessed  their  real  belief,  and  refused  the  consola- 
tions of  a  religion  which  they  regarded  as  a  mockery. 
Even  this  they  could  not  do  with  impunity.  An  un- 
bidden priest  might  enter  the  chamber  of  the  dying 
man,  regardless  of  the  protestations  of  the  family, 
and  demand  of  him  to  receive  the  sacraments  of  the 
Catholic  Church;  if  he  refused,  the  priest  might 
again  return,  accompanied  by  the  judges  or  local  offi- 
cials as  witnesses  of  the  offense.  The  distress  of 
such  a  scene  to  the  patient  and  the  family ;  the  un- 
seemly wrangling  and  protestations ;  the  priest  elbow- 
ing his  way  through  weeping  friends,  resorting  al- 
most to  physical  force  to  press  the  sacraments  upon 
the  dying  man,  and  claiming  that  some  nod  or  sigh 
extracted  by  the  final  agony  was  a  sign  of  compliance ; 
the  terrors  of  those  who  believed  that  the  eternal 
happiness  of  one  dear  to  them  might  depend  on  his 
conduct  in  the  last  few  hours  of  his  life,  —  all  this  was 
only  the  beginning  of  a  more  serious  procedure.  If 
the  sick  man  recovered,  he  could  be  sent  to  the  gal- 


188    FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

leys,  but  he  was  not  allowed  to  cheat  justice  by  dying, 
nor  was  the  law  content  with  the  confiscation  of  the 
property  he  left.  A  process  was  instituted  against 
the  corpse  of  the  heretic.  It  was  condemned  to  be 
dragged  naked  through  the  streets  on  a  hurdle,  and 
at  last  to  be  thrown  into  the  ditch  with  the  offal  and 
refuse  of  the  town.^  This  was  no  idle  form  of  words. 
The  penalty,  with  all  its  revolting  detail,  was  inflicted 
on  the  bodies  both  of  men  and  women.^  A  crowd  of 
fanatics,  drunk  with  brandy  and  religion,  seized  the 
corpse  as  soon  as  life  was  gone,  and  showed  their 
piety  by  subjecting  it  to  every  indignity,  until  at  last, 
disfigured  and  mutilated,  it  was  thrown  upon  some 
heap  of  carrion. 

As  a  result  of  the  persecutions  to  which  they  were 
subjected,  large  numbers  of  Huguenots  sought  for 
refuge  and  peace  in  other  lands.  This,  however,  was 
also  forbidden.  There  were  severe  laws  against  those 
who  endeavored  to  expatriate  themselves.  The  Hugue- 
nots arrested  when  flying  from  France  could  be  pun- 
ished with  the  confiscation  of  their  property,  the  men 
sent  to  the  galleys,  the  women  condemned  to  have 
their  heads  shaved  and  to  be  put  in  some  convent  or 
religious  retreat.  Notwithstanding  the  severity  of 
these  regulations,  a  large  stream  of  emigration  for 
years  poured  out  of  France.  Soldiers  kept  guard  at 
the  frontiers,  police  officers  patrolled  the  roads  ordi- 
narily taken  by  the  refugees,  but  it  was  impossible  to 
watch  the  whole  of  so  large  a  country  as  France,  and 
great  numbers  constantly  made  their  escape.     Every 

1  Declaration,  November  19,  1680  ;  April  23,  1686. 

2  Foucault  in  his  memoir  speaks  of  several  occasions  when  he 
assisted  in  the  trial  of  a  corpse,  and  when  the  legal  penalty  was 
inflicted  and  executed.  —  Mem.  de  Foucault,  155  et  passim. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      189 

device  was  used  to  avoid  the  vigilance  of  the  officers. 
At  the  seacoast  the  trading  ships  of  the  English  and 
Dutch  were  ready  to  furnish  refuge  for  the  victims  of 
religious  persecution.  Many  a  bale  of  merchandise, 
many  a  barrel  labeled  with  the  name  of  some  wine 
of  Bordeaux,  contained  within  it  men,  women,  and 
children,  stowed  away  to  avoid  detection,  and  risking 
death  by  suffocation  rather  than  lead  a  life  of  misery. 
The  market  days  were  favorable  opportunities  for  the 
Huguenots  to  start  on  their  flight.  Disguised  as 
peasants  on  their  vegetable  carts,  they  drove  through 
the  gates  and  traversed  many  miles  before  suspicion 
was  excited.  At  certain  places  guides  were  in  wait- 
ing, who  undertook  the  perilous  task  of  conducting 
them  to  the  frontier.  The  journey  was  painful  and 
dangerous,  the  roads  were  usually  bad,  and  it  was 
only  at  night  that  the  fugitives  dared  to  venture  upon 
them.  Portions  of  the  country  which  are  now  highly 
cultivated,  and  occupied  by  the  little  farms  of  pros- 
perous peasants,  were  then  covered  by  forests  and 
swamps.  Through  these  they  toiled,  women  and 
young  children,  braving  exposure  which  often  proved 
fatal.  As  they  approached  the  frontiers  the  danger 
of  arrest  became  greater,  for  these  were  patrolled 
by  guards.  Innumerable  disguises  were  adopted  in 
order  to  lull  suspicion.  One  man  strolled  along  ar- 
rayed as  a  fine  gentleman,  cane  in  hand,  taking  his 
morning  walk.  Another  was  a  hunter,  with  his  gun 
on  his  shoulder  and  his  dog  following,  in  search  of 
pheasants  or  grouse.  Many  were  arrayed  as  peasants 
with  produce  to  sell,  or  as  porters  carrying  burdens. 
Large  numbers  made  their  journey  as  wandering  beg- 
gars, which  only  too  often  was  the  reality  rather  than 
a  disguise.     The  refugees  were  sometimes  plundered 


190         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

by  the  peasants  of  the  little  they  could  carry  with 
them,  but  usually  they  received  friendly  treatment.^ 
Notwithstanding  the  penalties  against  those  who  as- 
sisted the  emigrants,  there  were  quarters  where  they 
were  sure  of  aid,  such  as  existed  in  the  United  States 
during  the  era  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Acts.  So  many 
were  arrested  that  it  was  impossible  to  inflict  upon  all 
of  them  the  punishment  which  the  law  prescribed. 
But  the  number  was  large  of  those  who  suffered  the 
full  penalty  of  their  act,  and  the  galleys  were  filled 
with  Protestants  who  had  been  captured  while  seeking 
to  escape  to  other  lands. 

The  institution  of  the  galleys,  as  it  existed  under 
Louis  XIV.,  was  in  sad  contrast  with  the  splendor 
of  the  reign  and  its  boasted  civilization.  The  French 
galleys  were  propelled  by  gangs  of  rowers,  and  differed 
little  in  construction  from  those  which  had  carried 
Greek  and  Roman  soldiers  over  the  Mediterranean  to 
battle  with  Persians  and  Carthaginians.  Such  craft 
were  of  little  service  on  a  rough  sea  like  the  Atlantic, 
and  the  French  clung  to  their  use  long  after  they  had 
ceased  to  be  anything  but  instruments  of  torture. 
Both  Louis  XIV.  and  Colbert,  in  their  zeal  for  build- 
ing up  a  navy,  attached  great  importance  to  manning 
the  galleys.  It  was  impossible  to  obtain  free  labor 
for  such  work,  so  the  banks  were  filled  with  criminals 
and  slaves.  For  this  purpose  the  government  of 
Louis  XIV.  purchased  slaves  with  alacrity ;  nor  was 
any  line  drawn  between  white  and  black.  Christian 
and  heretic.  For  Turks  the  agents  were  instructed  to 
pay  as  much  as  450  francs,  because  they  were  strong 

^  For  instances  of  the  former,  see  Correspondance  des  Con* 
troleurs  Gen.f  i.  105  et  passim  ;  Louvois  to  Lambert,  January  30, 
1686. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES,      191 

enough  to  endure  the  work,  and  the  horrors  of  the 
life  did  not  kill  them  as  rapidly  as  it  did  others. 
Those  who  objected  to  such  a  traffic  were  consoled  by 
the  thought  that  Turkish  idolaters  would  now  have 
the  advantage  of  Christian  surroundings.^  The  agents 
were  directed  to  buy  also  the  Russian  prisoners  who 
were  occasionally  in  the  market  at  Constantinople. 
Negroes  could  be  readily  purchased,  and  even  some 
Iroquois  were  entrapped  and  sent  over  for  this  service.^ 

Criminals  were  sentenced  to  the  same  fate,  and 
the  judges  were  enjoined  to  use  their  best  endeavors 
to  furnish  a  supply  of  able-bodied  convicts.^  Officers 
of  the  court,  who  had  not  succeeded  in  obtaining  as 
many  convicts  as  were  desired,  felt  bound  to  send 
their  apologies.^ 

The  life  of  the  galley  slave  was  a  more  miserable 
lot  than  is  now  inflicted  upon  any  one  in  civilized  or 
uncivilized  lands.  The  prisoners  were  taken  in  large 
gangs  to  the  seashore,  attached  by  the  neck  to  a 
long  chain,  and  subjected  to  such  abuse  on  the  way 
that  a  convict  tells  us  he  suffered  more  in  his  march 
from  Dunkirk  to  Marseilles,  than  during  twelve  years 
of  service  in  the  galleys.^  Even  the  privilege  of 
being  fastened  by  the  leg,  instead  of  the  neck,  was 
a  favor  rarely  granted.     When  they  had  reached  the 

^  Savary,  Le  parfait  negociant. 

2  Colbert  to  Intendant  des  Galeres,  November  12,  1676  ;  Let- 
tres  de  Colbert,  iii.  53,  188  et  passim, 
2  Lettres  de  Colbert,  iii.  50. 

*  Maniban  to  Colbert,  August  18,  1662.  "Nous  devrions 
avoir  confusion  de  si  mal  servir  le  roi  en  cette  partie,  vu  la  ne- 
cessite  qu'il  tesmoigne  d'avoir  des  formats."  Notwithstanding 
this  apology  for  lack  of  zeal,  forty-three  criminals  had  been  sen- 
tenced to  the  galleys  at  that  term  of  the  court. 

*  Memoires  d*un  protestant,  340. 


192         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

boats  they  were  chained  together  six  at  an  oar,  naked 
to  the  waist,  except  a  red  bonnet  on  their  heads. 
Overseers  walked  the  decks,  and  the  rawhide  con- 
stantly descended  to  stir  the  rowers  to  greater  ac- 
tivity. A  large  percentage  always  had  bloody  backs, 
and  gore  mingled  with  the  sweat  that  poured  from 
them  in  the  violence  of  their  exertions.  Sometimes 
gags  were  put  in  their  mouths  to  check  any  noise  or 
outcry.  They  were  bitted  and  whipped  with  more 
cruelty  than  beasts  of  burden.  When  the  galley  was 
in  service,  the  men  were  kept  chained  together  by 
their  waists  both  day  and  night.  Exhausted  by  the 
work,  a  man  often  fell  dead  at  the  oar.  The  rawhide 
was  first  applied  to  see  if  he  were  shamming ;  if  he 
was  found  to  be  lifeless,  the  body  was  thrown  into  the 
sea  like  carrion,  and  another  took  his  place.  For 
light  offenses,  twenty  or  thirty  blows  of  the  bastinado 
were  inflicted,  and  sometimes  one  hundred.  After  ten 
or  twelve  blows  the  sufferer  usually  lost  speech  and 
power  of  movement,  and  he  rarely  lived  to  receive  the 
full  penalty. 

The  officers  in  command  were  as  cruel  as  the  over- 
seers. The  ownership  of  slaves  brutalizes  the  master, 
and  the  galleys  had  the  same  effect  on  those  who  had 
charge  of  them.  The  commander  of  a  galley  delighted 
to  exhibit  two  or  three  hundred  naked  wretches  to  his 
visitors.  At  a  whistle  or  a  nod  they  must  rise,  and 
bow,  and  go  through  their  evolutions.  Some  were 
ordered  to  sing  and  dance  for  the  amusement  of 
guests.  They  were  inspected  and  discussed,  as  are 
the  beasts  at  a  menagerie.  One  visitor  asked  how  the 
men  could  get  any  sleep,  chained  closely  together  at 
the  oar.  "  I  will  show  you,"  said  the  captain.  The 
men  were  ordered  out  to  row  at  double  speed  against 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES,      193 

a  strong  tide.  The  work  was  so  exhausting  that  they 
could  be  kept  to  it  only  by  the  constant  use  of  the 
rope.  At  midnight,  when  supper  was  over,  the  cap- 
tain brought  his  guests  to  view  the  galley.  Overcome 
by  their  labor,  the  men  had  fallen  asleep  one  on  an- 
other, with  the  blood  running  down  the  backs  of  most 
of  them.  "  Now  I  will  show  you  how  to  waken  them," 
said  the  officer,  and  in  a  moment  the  whistle  sounded, 
and  a  shower  of  blows  stirred  up  the  exhausted  men.^ 

The  term  of  punishment  expired,  and  often  a  long 
sentence  had  been  imposed  for  a  light  offense.  Yet 
this  was  not  sure  to  bring  the  galleyman  relief  from 
his  misery.  For  the  convict  chained  to  his  oar,  as  for 
the  gentleman  confined  in  the  Bastille,  though  there 
was  no  authority  for  his  further  confinement,  there 
was  no  legal  process  to  obtain  his  release.  Men  re- 
mained working  at  the  oar  for  years  after  their  terms 
had  expired,  because  the  government  had  need  of 
them,  and  no  one  interested  himself  in  their  behalf. 
A  criminal  sentenced  to  the  galleys  for  five  years  in 
1660  was  still  at  the  oar  in  1679.  "As  he  has  re- 
mained fourteen  years  beyond  his  time,"  the  super- 
intendent writes  to  Colbert,  "  his  liberty  might  be 
accorded  him  by  grace,  if  it  is  agreeable  to  you."  ^ 

It  was  to  such  a  fate  that  Protestants  were  con- 
demned for  life,  because  they  had  endeavored  to  leave 
a  country  which  denied  them  liberty  of  conscience. 
Clergymen,  lawyers,  and  merchants,  found  themselves 
chained  next  to  criminals  and  slaves,  and  were  re- 
quired to  row  for  ten  or  twelve  hours,  naked  in  the 

^  Memoires  d^un  protestant,  451-453.  This  account  is  given  by 
a  man  who  was  then  working  on  the  galley,  and  who  was  not 
addicted  to  querulous  lamentations. 

2  Superintendent  of  galleys  to  Colbert,  March  13,  1679. 


194         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

suD,  under  the  lash  of  an  overseer.  Death  soon  re- 
lieved many  of  them,  but  such  was  the  punishment 
which  Louis  XIV.  specially  approved  of  for  men  who 
persevered  in  a  faith  that  was  distasteful  to  him.  At 
the  peace  of  Utrecht,  Queen  Anne  obtained  the  liberty 
of  about  three  hundred  Huguenots  who  were  then 
serving  in  the  galleys.^ 

After  all  the  paeans  which  celebrated  Louis  as  a 
new  Constantine,  and  all  the  cruelty  and  injustice  by 
which  the  victories  of  religion  were  obtained,  heresy 
was  not  extinguished  in  France.  Louis  XIV.  and  his 
successors  continued  to  rule  over  heretics.  If  persecu- 
tion had  never  been  allowed  to  abate,  all  Protestants 
would  at  last  have  been  driven  from  France,  or  the 
parents  would  have  become  nominal  Catholics  and 
the  children  sincere  Catholics. ^  The  religion  of  a 
small  minority  can  be  stamped  out,  if  the  majority 
are  willing  to  go  to  the  lengths  necessary  for  the  re- 
sult. But  while  Louis  and  his  advisers  were  persecu- 
tors, they  were  unwilling  to  use  all  the  means  needed 

^  The  Correspondance  de  Colbert^  t.  iii.,  and  Correspondance 
Administrative  sous  Louis  XIV.,  t.  ii.  contain  a  great  *amount  of 
information  about  the  galleys  and  their  management.  An  in- 
teresting work,  Memoires  d^un  protestant,  written  by  a  young 
Huguenot  who  was  arrested  in  attempting  to  escape  from 
France,  and  served  twelve  years  in  the  galleys,  gives  a  vivid  ac- 
count of  the  life.  He  says  that  the  Protestants  were  usually 
better  treated  by  the  overseers  than  were  the  other  convicts. 
The  book  is  written  with  an  air  of  candor  that  excites  confidence 
in  all  that  it  contains.  Evelyn,  in  his  Diary,  i.  85,  describes  the 
appearance  of  a  galley  crew  which  was  exhibited  for  his  edifica- 
tion. It  was  not  until  late  in  the  eighteenth  century  that  the 
use  of  galleys  in  France  was  finally  abandoned. 

2  Such  was  the  theory  attributed  to  Mme.  de  Maintenon  in 
one  of  the  apocryphal  letters.  It  probably  expressed  her  be- 
lief, even  if  she  gave  no  utterance  to  it. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      195 

to  effect  the  end»  The  cruelties  which  they  allowed 
were  enough  to  be  odious,  but  not  enough  to  be  effica- 
cious. Intolerance  was  in  the  character  of  the  mass 
of  the  people,  but  a  taste  for  persecution  was  not. 
The  severities  practiced  before  and  after  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  edict  began  to  relax,  as  it  was  apparent 
that  it  would  require  long  years  of  constant  repres- 
sion to  make  good  Catholics  out  of  the  Huguenots. 
The  same  wavering  and  uncertain  measures  continued 
to  mark  the  policy  of  the  government,  which  had 
characterized  it  during  all  of  this  miserable  and  abor- 
tive attempt  at  conversion.  Wearied  of  the  endeavor 
to  keep  watch  over  a  long  line  of  frontier  and  sea- 
board, the  refugees  were  allowed  to  escape  without 
molestation.  Louvois  wrote  that  their  flight  would 
be  beneficial  to  the  king,  and  the  country  would  be 
better  off  without  them.^  Still  the  edict  which  for- 
bade their  going  was  not  repealed,  and  after  a  time  it 
was  again  enforced. 

The  wars  in  which  Louis  became  involved  led  to  a 
milder  treatment  of  the  new  converts.  The  troops 
were  needed  for  other  work,  and  the  government  feared 
lest  persecution  should  excite  the  Protestants  to  insur- 
rection. The  superintendents  were  directed  to  check 
the  zeal  of  priests  and  officials,  and  to  avoid  inflicting 
upon  the  corpses  of  the  impenitent  the  loathsome  pun- 
ishment prescribed  by  law.^  A  party  in  the  church 
raised  its  voice  against  the  means  used  to  drive  prose- 

^  Louvois  to  Boufflers,  December  10,  1687,  "  II  faut  at- 
tendre  de  la  bontd  divine  la  cessation  de  ce  desordre."  —  Louis 
to  Avaux,  October  30,  1687. 

2  See  Mem.  de  Pontchartrain,  1697,  complaining  that  the  su- 
perintendents, by  their  excessive  zeal,  were  driving  new  con- 
verts out  of  France,  and  that  such  conduct  must  be  stopped. 
See,  also,  Cor.  Gen.,  i.  120,  176  et  pas. 


196         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

lytes  to  the  mass,  as  a  profanation  of  the  mysteries  of 
religion.  In  the  confusion  of  ordinances  and  of  their 
enforcement,  the  unhappy  convert  was  involved  in 
hopeless  embarrassment.  He  asked  a  priest  to  marry 
him,  and  was  told  that  his  Catholicism  was  so  dubious 
that  he  was  not  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  church.  He  resorted  to  a  form  that 
satisfied  his  own  conscience,  and  some  zealous  civil 
functionary  prosecuted  him  for  refusing  to  comply 
with  the  regulations  as  to  marriage.  For  almost  a 
century,  a  large  body  of  people  lived  in  apprehen- 
sion of  having  their  marriages  declared  illegal,  their 
children  bastards,  and  their  wills  invalid.^ 

While  dragonnades  were  abandoned,  and  violent 
endeavors  to  compel  the  new  converts  to  comply  with 
Catholic  usages  were  only  resorted  to  in  some  tran- 
sient burst  of  piety,  those  who  attended  any  public 
exercise  of  the  reformed  faith  still  exposed  themselves 
to  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  government.^  Even  those 
who  met  in  private  houses,  and  there  joined  in  prayer 
and  song,  were  punished  by  imprisonment  and  the  gal- 
leys.^ A  large  reward  was  offered  for  the  arrest  of  the 
ministers,  who  returned  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  to 
exhort  the  victims  of  oppression  to  remain  constant  in 
the  faith,  until  this  tyranny  was  overpast.  Assem- 
blies were  held  in  the  open  air,  amid  remote  forests,  or 
under  the  overhanging  rocks  of  the  Cevennes.  Senti- 
nels watched  to  report  the  approach  of  any  troops 
who  might  have  learned  of  the  meeting.     When  the 

1  Rulhi^re,  Eclair cissements  sur  les  causes  de  la  revocation  de 
Vedit  de  Nantes,  ii.  114,  178  et  pas. 

2  The  penalty  imposed  by  the  law  was  death.  —  DecL^  July 
1,  1686. 

8  Mem.  de  Fmcault,  162,  270. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      197 

soldiers  succeeded  in  surprising  these  assemblies,  they 
were  directed  to  fire  on  them,  and  to  spare  neither 
men  nor  women.  A  Protestant  who  joined  in  the 
public  worship  of  his  faith  was  hunted  down  and  shot 
like  a  noxious  beast.^  Notwithstanding  these  dangers, 
ministers  were  found  ready  to  exhort,  and  auditors 
eager  to  listen.  "  They  came  out  of  their  holes  to  pray 
God  and  disappeared  like  spirits,"  complained  Mme. 
de  S^vigne,  "  until  the  governor  of  the  province  was 
wearied  of  their  pursuit."  ^ 

A  minute  espionage  filled  the  reports  of  the  police 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  and  a  petty  perse- 
cution occupied  much  of  its  energies.  Some  one  wrote 
that  a  doctor  among  the  new  converts  had  spoken 
lightly  of  the  mass  ;  and  his  case  had  to  be  investi- 
gated. The  religious  zeal  of  a  tallow-chandler,  the 
statement  that  a  tinsmith  was  slack  in  his  observances, 
furnished  occupation  for  the  ofi&cers  of  the  state.^  The 
conduct  of  the  Duke  of  La  Force  and  his  family  was 
deemed  worthy  of  the  personal  attention  of  the  sover- 
eign, and  is  discussed  in  innumerable  state  documents. 
The  duke's  children  were  taken  away  from  him,  and 
were  educated  to  such  good  purpose  that  his  son  be- 
came an  active  ^persecutor  of  the  Huguenots.  The 
duke  himself  was  driven  to  profess  Catholicism,  but 
his  wife  remained  a  stanch  Protestant,  and  under  her 
influence  the  religious  zeal  of  the  duke  was  unsatisfac- 
tory.  He  was  sent  to  the  Bastille,  and  after  two  years 
he  was  induced  to  sign  a  second  abjuration.  As  he 
was  sick,  his  wife  was  allowed  to  attend  him,  and  again 

1  Mem.  de  Foucaultj  219  ;  Louvois  to  Foucault,  March  1, 1688; 
Mem.,  de  Cosnac,  116  ;  Louvois  to  La  Trousse,  August  23,  1688. 

2  Correspondancey  viii.  532. 

8  Cor.  adm.,  iv.  288,  403  et  pas. 


198  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

his  conduct  excited  disapproval.  A  spy  reported  that, 
while  the  duke  claimed  to  be  too  ill  to  attend  mass,  he 
had  been  seen  visiting  his  stables.  Thereupon  a  police 
officer  was  sent  to  take  up  his  residence  at  the  chateau, 
and  to  see  that  the  wife  did  not  talk  religion  to  her 
husband.  A  priest  was  presently  sent  to  his  assist- 
ance, and  the  officer  was  directed  to  follow  his  victim 
both  day  and  night.  The  duke  could  not  be  left,  even 
when  he  entered  his  bedchamber,  lest  the  duchess 
should  use  those  moments  for  his  religious  perversion. 
Tormented  alike  in  body  and  mind,  the  unhappy  man 
at  last  died.  For  fifteen  days  before  his  death,  his 
wife  was  not  allowed  to  see  him.  Louis  assured  his 
courtiers  that  thanks  to  such  measures  the  duke  would 
die  a  good  Catholic.^  The  autos  dafe  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion were  perhaps  more  cruel,  but  they  were  certainly 
more  dignified  than  a  persecution  such  as  this. 

As  it  became  manifest  that  the  treatment  of  the 
Huguenots  was  injuring  France  without  helping  Ca- 
tholicism, some  voices  were  raised  for  an  abandon- 
ment of  the  effort  at  conversion.  They  met  with  no 
response  from  a  king  who  never  owned  that  he  was 
wrong.  It  is  possible  that  if  those  who  advised  Louis 
to  revoke  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  foreseen  the  results, 
they  would  have  dissuaded  him  from  the  act.  But  the 
king  would  not  now  admit  that  he  had  made  a  mis- 
take. His  faith  in  himself  was  so  implicit  that  he  prob- 
ably never  realized  that  he  had  made  one.  Mme.  de 
Maintenon  gave  her  opinion,  in  writing,  against  any 

1  Journal  de  Dangeau,  vii.  70.  The  orders  of  the  king,  the 
letters  of  the  chancellor  and  other  officials,  directing  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  duke  and  his  wife  should  be  watched  and 
shadowed,  will  be  found  in  Correspondance  administrative,  t.  iv. 
392, 422,  480,  etc.     They  extend  over  several  years. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      199 

modification  of  the  edicts  in  reference  to  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  she  touched  the  king  most  nearly  when  she 
wrote  that  it  would  injure  his  reputation  to  abandon 
an  enterprise  for  which  he  had  been  so  much  praised.^ 
Fervent  Catholic  as  he  was,  the  hope  of  gaining  fame 
as  the  converter  of  millions  was  the  most  powerful 
motive  that  operated  on  the  mind  of  Louis  XIV. 
in  his  policy  in  reference  to  his  Huguenot  subjects. 
He  would  never  have  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
had  he  dreamed  that  this  would  be  the  one  act  of  his 
reign  which  would  receive  the  universal  condemnation 
of  posterity. 

The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  a  crime 
and  a  failure.  The  amount  of  material  injury  which 
it  did  to  France  has,  however,  been  greatly  exagger- 
ated. Historians  write  as  if  that  country  was  in  a 
highly  prosperous  condition  before  the  revocation,  and 
by  the  results  of  that  act  alone  was  reduced  to  poverty 
and  distress.  It  would  seem  to  be  supposed  that  all 
the  industries  of  the  kingdom  were  in  the  hands  of 
Huguenots,  that  they  fled  from  France  in  a  body,  and 
left  no  one  behind  who  could  weave  or  bind,  sell  or 
buy.  This  is  far  from  being  correct.  The  population 
of  France  was  then  about  20,000,000.  The  number 
of  the  Huguenots  was  little  over  1,000,000.2   It  is  im- 

1  Let.  ed.y  iv.  457,  1697. 

2  These  figures  are  approximate.  From  the  reports  of  super- 
intendents and  other  officials,  it  is,  however,  possible  to  ascer- 
tain the  Huguenot  population  very  closely.  Martin  estimates  the 
Protestants  at  a  million  and  a  half,  but  the  data  which  he  must 
have  accepted  will  not  bear  analysis.  The  mass  of  the  Hugue- 
nots were  in  a  few  southern  provinces,  and  Languedoc  was  the 
district  where  they  were  most  numerous.  The  most  trustworthy 
reports  give  the  Protestant  population  of  that  province  at  less 
than  200,000,  or  about  one  to  seven  as  compared  with  the  Catho- 


200         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

possible  to  ascertain  the  exact  number  who  left  France, 
but  it  can  be  safely  stated  that  during  the  entire 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  the  number  of  refugees  did  not 
exceed  250,000.^  Certainly  this  was  a  serious  loss ; 
but  five  times  as  many  emigrants  have  left  Germany 
within  a  period  of  ten  years,  and  that  country  has  not 
suffered.  An  enormous  emigration  from  Great  Bri- 
tain has  for  years  gone  hand  in  hand  with  a  great 
increase  in  national  wealth.  If  France  had  been  pros- 
perous and  well  governed,  if  her  taxes  had  been  judi- 

lics. — Mem.  d^Aguesseau,  1685;  D.  G.,  795.  Languedoc  contained 
nearly  one  fifth  of  the  French  Huguenots  ;  and  in  many  of  the 
northern  provinces  the  Protestants  were  an  insignificant  minority. 
Taking  the  entire  country,  the  Protestant  population  was  not 
over  one  to  twenty.  Louis  had  every  opportunity  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  the  French  Huguenots ;  and  after  the  edict  had 
been  revoked,  when  he  might  naturally  have  overestimated 
rather  than  underestimated,  he  stated  it  at  a  little  less  than  a 
million. — Louis  to  Cardinal  d'Estrdes,  October  19,  1685  ;  Janu- 
ary 17,  1686. 

1  These  figures  are  also  derived  from  the  comparison  of  a  great 
number  of  official  documents  and  reports,  as  well  as  from  esti- 
mates of  intelligent  contemporaries.  They  are  certainly  large 
enough.  In  Languedoc,  for  example,  the  report  of  the  super- 
intendent in  1699  states  that  the  entire  emigration  down  to 
that  time  was  less  than  5,000.  This  may  be  an  underestimate, 
but  the  same  report  gives  the  number  of  new  converts  then  in 
the  province  at  198,000.  —  Rapport  sur  Languedoc,  par  Baville. 
Aguesseau,  a  very  trustworthy  authority,  gave  the  Protestant 
population  in  1685  at  only  182,000.  In  other  words,  practically, 
the  entire  Protestant  population  of  Languedoc  had  remained 
there.  It  had  increased  rather  than  diminished.  Allowing  for 
errors  in  these  calculations,  it  is  certain  that  the  emigration  from 
that  province  was  small.  In  some  northern  provinces  the  per- 
centage of  emigration  was  larger,  but  an  estimate  that  one  quar- 
ter of  the  entire  number  of  Huguenots  left  France  is  too  large 
rather  than  too  small.  If  we  can  trust  such  statistics  as  we  have, 
the  emigration  was  nmch  less. 


REVOCATION  01^  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      201 

ciously  imposed  and  economically  collected,  if  there 
had  been  sufficient  demand  for  her  wares,  if  there  had 
been  no  more  deep-seated  cause  for  her  industrial  de- 
cline than  the  loss  of  Huguenot  refugees,  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  would  not  have  checked  her 
material  development.  Had  there  been  a  demand  for 
the  product,  there  were  plenty  of  hands  ready  and 
competent  to  do  the  work  which  had  been  performed 
by  the  Huguenot  artisans  who  fled  to  other  lands. 

In  the  southern  provinces  the  emigration  was  com- 
paratively small.  Three  fourths  of  the  Protestant 
population  were  unwilling  to  leave  their  fatherland. 
They  were  exposed  to  more  or  less  of  oppression  and 
injustice,  but  on  the  whole  their  material  condition, 
after  the  first  fury  of  persecution  was  over,  was  about 
what  it  would  have  been  had  the  Edict  of  Nantes  re- 
mained in  force.  The  report  of  1699  from  Languedoc 
shows  that  the  new  converts,  in  other  words  the  Prot- 
estants, were  more  prosperous  than  their  Catholic  neigh- 
bors, and  many  of  their  merchants  were  very  rich. 
This  was  thirteen  years  after  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  The  superintendent,  a  bigoted  Cath- 
olic, justly  says  that  this  condition  of  greater  ease 
was  due  to  their  greater  industry,  but  it  shows  also 
that  the  benefits  of  the  intelligence  and  thrift  of  the 
Huguenots  were  not  lost  to  France. 

Those  who  left  their  country  were  undoubtedly  in- 
dustrious, thrifty,  and  useful  citizens.  As  was  said  to 
the  French  government  by  one  of  its  merchants,  "  The 
flight  of  the  Huguenots  carried  away  good  heads  and 
strong  arms."  ^  They  carried  their  intelligence,  their 
integrity,  their  knowledge  of  useful  arts,  to  England 
and  Holland,  Switzerland  and  Prussia,  even  to  the 
1  Mem,  of  a  delegate  from  Lyons,  1701. 


202    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

remote  regions  of  Guiana  and  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  They  added  to  the  prosperity  of  the  countries 
which  profited  by  French  bigotry ;  but  an  emigration 
of  one  per  cent,  of  the  population,  during  a  period 
of  thirty  years,  was  a  minor  element  in  the  material 
decay  of  France.  Then  as  now,  industry,  thrift,  and 
willingness  to  labor  were  found  among  Catholics  as 
well  as  Protestants.  To  exhausting  wars,  royal  extrava- 
gance, unjust  taxation,  unwise  commercial  regulations, 
was  it  due  that  the  peasant  starved  in  his  hut,  that 
the  silk  looms  of  Tours  were  idle,  that  the  weavers 
of  Lyons  were  in  rags,  that  the  merchant  of  La  Ro- 
chelle  found  no  one  to  buy  his  wares.  More  than 
anything  else  in  the  administration  of  Louis  XIV., 
the  treatment  of  the  Huguenots  excites  our  right- 
eous indignation,  but  it  was  not  the  feature  of  it 
which  was  most  injurious  to  the  material  welfare  of 
the  country.^ 

^  The  most  valuable  data  from  which  to  estimate  the  injury 
done  to  the  commercial  interests  of  France  by  the  Huguenot 
persecutions  are  in  the  Corres^pondance  des  Controleurs  Generaux, 
and  in  the  reports  of  the  superintendents  as  to  the  condition  of 
France  in  1698.  A  comparison  of  figures,  which  is  too  often 
omitted  by  statistical  writers,  will  assist  in  reaching  a  correct 
result.  All  agree  that  the  departure  of  the  Huguenots  was  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  extreme  depression  which  existed  in  1698, 
but  not  the  principal  cause.  The  industrial  condition  of  France 
at  that  time  would  have  been  little  better,  if  no  Huguenot  had 
ever  fled  across  the  borders.  Languedoc  was  the  province  where 
the  Huguenots  were  the  most  numerous.  Thirteen  years  after 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  revoked,  Languedoc  was  still  the  most 
prosperous  section  of  France.  —  Rapport  de  Baville.  In  many  of 
the  northern  provinces,  where  trade  was  stagnant  at  that  period, 
there  had  been  hardly  enough  Protestants  to  people  a  village. 
The  arts,  which  the  Huguenots  are  sometimes  supposed  to  have 
introduced  into  Holland  and  England,  were  those  which  in  1667 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      203 

The  indirect  results  of  the  revocation  were  more 
serious.  It  did  not,  indeed,  destroy  Protestantism  as 
an  element  in  French  life.  When  religious  freedcfm 
was  allowed  a  century  later,  the  number  of  those  who 
were  still  Protestants,  though  the  public  services  of 
their  church  had  long  been  forbidden,  was  nearly  as 
large  as  when  the  dragoons  of  Louvois  began  to  act 
as  missionaries.^  The  Protestants  in  France  to-day 
bear  nearly  the  same  proportion  to  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation that  they  did  under  Louis  XIV.  But  an  era 
of  persecution  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  an  injury  to  the  cause  of  religion  itself.  To  this 
was  it  due,  in  some  part  at  least,  that  the  austerity 
and  bigotry  of  the  later  years  of  Louis  XIV.  were 
followed  by  the  license  and  the  infidelity  of  the  Re- 
gency; that,  while  fanatics  in  1685  were  busied  in 
tearing  down  Protestant  temples,  a  century  later  their 
descendants  were  murdering  Catholic  priests  and  wor- 
shiping the  Goddess  of  Reason. 

While  the  voice  of  praise  from  almost  every  quarter 
greeted  the  overthrow  of  heresy,  Louis's  achievement 
received  at  Rome  only  a  tardy  and  chilling  approval.^ 
It  was  said  that  Innocent  XL  condemned  the  mea- 
sures used  against  the  Huguenots,  and  that  he  had  no 

Colbert  claimed  had  reached  such  a  development  in  those  coun- 
tries, that  France  needed  a  prohibitive  tariff  to  protect  her  from 
their  competition. 

^  Rapport  de  Breteuil,  1786. 

^  It  was  not  until  March,  1686,  that  the  Pope  ordered  a  Te 
Deum  to  be  sung  over  the  victory  of  the  faith,  and  this  he  did 
with  reluctance.  He  sent  to  Louis  a  formal  congratulation  at 
the  revocation  of  the  edict,  but  the  representatives  of  France 
admitted  that  the  prodigies  accomplished  in  the  conversion  of 
heretics  were  regarded  coldly  at  Rome. —  Lettre  de  Rome,  Sep- 
tember 18,  1685  ;  Depeche  du  due  d'Estrees,  November  13,  1685. 


204         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

words  of  praise  for  armed  apostles.^  Even  if  he  was 
not  averse  to  persecution,  he  certainly  entertained  no 
anection  for  the  persecutor.  The  wrangles  of  Louis 
XIV.  with  the  Vatican  are  of  little  importance  in  re- 
ligious history.  It  was  over  no  question  of  doctrine 
that  the  king  quarreled  with  the  Pope.  Louis  had  no 
thought  of  imitating  Henry  VIII. ;  he  was  not  the 
man  to  start  schisms,  or  to  think  of  organizing  na- 
tional churches.  He  was  always  the  best  of  Catholics, 
even  when  he  was  on  the  worst  of  terms  with  the  Pope. 
The  disputes  with  Rome,  like  those  with  many  of  the 
minor  powers,  grew  out  of  the  monarch's  inordinate 
desire  to  assert  his  own  prerogative.  The  French 
kings  enjoyed  in  most  of  the  kingdom  what  was  called 
the  ''regale,"  —  the  right  to  receive  the  emoluments  of 
a  bishopric  w^hile  it  remained  vacant.  In  four  south- 
ern provinces  this  right  did  not  exist,  or  if  it  existed, 
it  had  not  been  exercised.  Louis  proceeded  to  assert 
this  prerogative  over  the  whole  of  France.  The  most 
of  the  clergy  acquiesced,  as  they  acquiesced  in  w^iat- 
ever  the  monarch  did.  Their  dependence  on  the  king 
was  greater  than  on  the  Pope  ;  from  Versailles,  and 
not  from  Rome,  came  their  preferment.  Two  only  of 
the  bishops  refused  to  recognize  the  claims  made  by 
the  sovereign.  Innocent  XI.  was  then  Pope,  a  man 
of  learning  and  of  good  morals,  narrow  in  his  views, 
pertinacious  in  his  policy,  and  who  had  endeavored 
to  reform  the  abuses  he  found  at  Rome.  He  bore 
little  love  for  the  French  or  their  monarch.  At  Rome, 
as  elsewhere,  the  representatives  of  the  great  king 
had  not  exercised  their  office  with  meekness,  nor  dis- 
turbed themselves  about  the  dignity  or  the  sensibili- 
ties of  those  with  whom  they  had  to  deal.  Innocent 
^  Relazioni  dagli  Amb.  Ven. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      205 

now  sustained  the  protesting  bishops  in  their  positiono 
Louis  proceeded  to  exercise  the  rights  he  claimed,  and 
the  Pope  excommunicated  those  who  acted  under  the 
royal  commands. 

This  quarrel  continued  for  several  years.  A  gen- 
eral assembly  of  the  Gallican  Church  was  called  in 
1682,  and,  under  the  leadership  of  Bossuet,  it  ap- 
proved the  king's  right  of  regale  as  he  asserted  it, 
and  adopted  four  articles  which  were  long  the  subjects 
of  religious  disputation.  By  them,  the  assembly  de- 
clared that  the  Pope  had  no  authority  over  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  kings,  and  no  right  to  depose  thetn ; 
that  the  privileges  of  the  Gallican  Church  must  be 
preserved, and  that  the  papal  utterances  were  not  be- 
yond question,  until  they  were  ratified  by  a  general 
council  of  the  church. 

The  French  clergy  under  Louis  XIV.  may  be  called 
monarchical,  rather  than  Gallican.  They  supported 
the  king  in  any  position  he  took,  as  implicitly  as  did 
the  rest  of  his  subjects.  When  he  quarreled  with  the 
Pope,  they  asserted  the  right  of  the  church  at  large  to 
correct  the  errors  of  its  head.  When  Louis,  towards 
the  end  of  his  reign,  became  more  submissive  to  papal 
authority,  the  views  of  his  clergy  assumed  a  more  ul- 
tramontane hue. 

The  articles  of  the  assembly  of  1682  were  in  the 
highest  degree  offensive  to  Innocent  XI.  With  a 
long  array  of  his  predecessors,  he  held  to  the  doctrine 
of  papal  infallibility,  which,  curiously  enough,  was 
never  formally  recognized  by  the  church  in  the  cen- 
turies of  faith,  and  was  at  last  adopted  in  an  age  of 
incredulity.  Louis  appointed  to  bishoprics  those  who 
had  subscribed  to  the  four  articles.  The  Pope  de- 
clared that  he  could  not  accept  as  bishops  the  heretics 


206         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

named  by  the  king,  and  he  refused  to  send  the  bulls 
required  to  complete  their  ecclesiastical  authority. ^ 
The  most  zealous  of  Louis's  followers  declared  that, 
unless  the  Pope  yielded  to  reason,  the  other  bishops 
would  consecrate  the  new  incumbents  and  dispense 
with  papal  ratification.  Such  a  step  might  well  have 
been  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  a  schism  ;  it  was 
threatened,  but  it  was  not  attempted.  Innocent  was 
very  old  ;  while  Louis's  representatives  expressed  no 
hope''  that  years  would  bring  him  wisdom,  they  un- 
doubtedly anticipated  that  death  would  soon  relieve 
the  situation.^ 

In  this  dispute  the  king  was  probably  in  the  right. 
A  controversy  arose  on  another  question  in  which  he 
was  entirely  in  the  wrong.  The  foreign  ambassadors 
at  Rome  had  long  possessed  a  right  of  sanctuary,  one 
of  the  disorderly  mediaeval  privileges  which  furnished 
immunity  for  the  murderers  and  highwaymen  of  a 
town,  and  rendered  the  vicinity  of  an  ambassador's 
house  such  a  district  as  Whitefriars  is  described  in  the 
"Fortunes  of  Nigel."  This  custom  was  inconsistent 
with  orderly  government,  with  the  authority  of  the 

1  Correspondance  de  Rome,  293,  124.  The  French  retahated 
by  claiming  that  Innocent  would  not  confirm  the  nominees  be- 
cause they  would  not  say  that  he  was  infallible. 

2  The  details  of  these  controversies  can  be  found  in  the  Cor- 
respondance de  Rome  for  three  years  ;  the  proceedings  of  the 
Assembly  of  1682  ;  the  proceedings  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
the  harangues  of  its  attorney-general  ;  and  in  innumerable  con- 
temporary pamphlets.  Michaud,  in  his  Louis  XI V,  and  Innocent 
XI.,  has  published,  in  four  volumes,  a  large  amount  of  official 
correspondence  in  reference  to  these  disputes.  The  information 
thus  furnished  is  not  accompanied  with  much  critical  sagacity. 
It  is  a  curious  frame  of  mind  that  accepts  the  statements  made 
in  letters  of  an  ambassador,  in  reference  to  an  unfriendly  poten- 
tate, as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  facts. 


REVOCATION  OF  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      207 

police,  and  the  safety  of  the  citizens.  Innocent  XI. 
declared  that  he  would  receive  no  representative  of 
any  foreign  power,  which  insisted  upon  this  obnoxious 
privilege.  All  the  governments  save  France  consented 
to  abandon  it,  but  Louis  replied  that  he  did  not  model 
his  conduct  on  the  example  of  other  sovereigns,  and 
he  refused  to  surrender  the  right  of  sanctuary.  Why 
he  should  have  deemed  his  dignity  increased  if  a 
Sicilian  assassin  could  murder  a  man  on  the  Corso, 
and  escape  punishment  by  lodging  himself  near  the 
palace  of  the  French  minister,  it  is  impossible  to  see. 
Why  he  should  have  thought  it  worth  while  on  such  a 
ground  to  irritate  a  potentate  who  might  be  useful  to 
him  is  equally  impossible  to  discover.  During  some 
years,  Louis's  conduct  in  many  respects  can  only  be 
characterized  as  the  unbridled  wantonness  and  naugh- 
tiness of  power.  His  ambassador  proceeded  to  Rome 
with  directions  to  surrender  no  rights  that  pertained 
to  his  position.^  He  entered  the  city,  the  Italians  com- 
plained, surrounded  by  soldiers  and  cutthroats,  as  if 
he  were  taking  possession  of  a  conquered  town.  The 
Pope  refused  to  receive  the  minister,  and  declared  him 
excommunicated.  He  attended  mass  at  the  chapel  of 
the  French  embassy,  and  the  Pope  put  it  under  inter- 
dict, because  the  sacrament  had  there  been  adminis- 
tered to  a  man  under  the  ban  of  the  church. ^ 

^  Louis  to  Lavardin,  November  18,  1687. 

2  Correspondence  between  Lavardin,  the  French  ambassador, 
and  Louis  ;  Italian  broadside  on  Lavardin's  conduct,  etc.  ;  In- 
struction aux  ambassadeurSf  t.  vi.,  Rome.  Lavardin  was  authorized 
to  make  some  slight  concession  on  the  right  of  sanctuary,  but 
as  the  Pope  would  not  receive  him,  there  was  no  opportunity  for 
negotiation.  Etiquette  required  that  he  should  kneel  in  present- 
ing his  compliments  to  the  Pope,  but  his  instructions  said  that, 
unless  he  was  soon  asked  to  rise,  he  might  cut  them  very  short. 
Page  290. 


208    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Such  were  the  relations  between  the  king  and  the 
Pope  when  events  in  other  lands  enabled  Innocent 
XI.  to  gratify  his  feelings  by  aiding  the  great  confed- 
eration formed  to  check  the  power  and  humiliate  the 
pride  of  Louis  XIV. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

COALITIONS   AGAINST    FRANCE. 

1680-1697. 

If  Louis  XIV.  had  died  in  1683,  a  man  of  forty- 
five,  his  record  would  have  been  one  of  unbroken 
success,  unequaled  by  that  of  any  other  king  during 
seven  hundred  years  of  French  history.  In  the  eigh- 
teen years  that  the  government  was  administered  by 
Mazarin,  the  treaties  of  Westphalia  and  of  the  Pyre- 
nees had  marked  the  triumphs  of  French  policy,  had 
added  new  provinces  to  France,  and  had  given  her  an 
influence  in  Europe  superior  to  that  of  Spain  or  the 
empire.  The  personal  administration  of  Louis,  for 
almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  could  compare  favor- 
ably with  what  was  accomplished  in  his  name  while 
he  was  a  minor.  The  territory  of  France  had  been 
still  further  increased ;  and  so  powerful  was  that  coun- 
try that  it  was  able  to  contend  on  equal  terms,  not 
only  against  any  other  European  state,  but  against  a 
coalition  of  all  the  European  states  which  were  then 
regarded  as  great  powers.  These  results  had  been  ob- 
tained by  wars  which  had  not  exhausted  the  land,  and 
by  a  foreign  policy  which  had  usually  been  sagacious. 
Great  men,  both  in  politics  and  literature,  had  made 
illustrious  the  forty  years  during  which  Louis  had 
been  a  king.  Reforms  in  taxation  had  lessened  the 
burdens  of  the  people  and  added  to  their  prosperity  ; 


210         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

reforms  in  administration  had  increased  the  order  of 
the  country  and  the  efficiency  of  the  army.  The  per- 
secutions of  the  Huguenots  were  indications  of  a  nar- 
row belief,  but  thus  far  they  had  not  been  sufficient 
to  attract  the  special  attention  of  posterity.^  History 
might  have  chastened  the  expressions  of  adulation 
which  contemporaries  lavished  upon  Louis  XIV.,  but 
it  would  have  been  forced  to  admit  that  his  rule  had 
made  France  more  powerful,  and  had  not  rendered 
her  people  less  happy ;  that,  if  the  government  had 
been  centralized,  it  had  also  been  better  administered ; 
and  that  the  reign  was  one  upon  which  a  patriotic 
Frenchman  might  look  with  pride,  and  without  serious 
disapproval. 

Like  many  others,  Louis  XIV.  lived  too  long  for 
his  own  fame.  The  last  thirty  years  of  his  reign 
throw  a  light  upon  his  policy,  his  abilities,  and  the 
results  of  his  administration,  which  modifies  his  posi- 
tion in  history.  Our  opinion  of  the  monarch  is  al- 
tered, not  because  he  was  unfortunate,  but  because 
he  brought  his  misfortunes  upon  himself.  It  was  in 
these  years  that  he  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes ;  that 
he  united  Europe  against  France  by  a  tyrannical  and 
short-sighted  policy ;  that  he  brought  his  kingdom  to 
the  verge  of  ruin  in  the  endeavor  to  establish  his 
grandson  on  the  Spanish  throne. 

Men  like  William  of  Orange  had  opposed  the  treaty 
of  Nimeguen  on  account  of  the  additional  territory 
which  it  secured  for  France,  and  because  they  believed 
that  Louis  would  not  rest  content  with  what  he  had 
obtained.  The  result  showed  that  their  apprehensions 
were  justified.  Peace  had  hardly  been  declared  when 
the  French  began  to  make  further  acquisitions,  under 
1  This  statement  would  have  been  true  in  1682. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  211 

the  guise  of  judicial  proceedings.  The  king  had  a 
taste  for  legal  technicalities,  on  which  to  rest  the  de- 
mands which  his  ambition  suggested.  Territorial  ag- 
grandizement under  the  plea  of  national  sympathies, 
of  political  propaganda,  or  community  of  race,  is  a 
more  modern  procedure.  Louis's  claims,  from  the 
inheritance  of  the  empire  of  Philip  II.  down  to  the 
lordship  of  a  village  in  Flanders,  were  based  upon 
some  special  pleading,  upon  the  construction  to  be  put 
upon  a  will,  a  charter,  or  a  treaty.  This  was  both 
annoying  and  alarming  to  his  neighbors.  Few  pri- 
vate estates  would  be  safe  from  contention,  if  the 
statute  of  limitations  did  not  silence  obsolete  claims. 
It  was  impossible  to  say  upon  what  territory  some 
claim  of  right  would  be  devised  for  Louis  XIV.,  and 
equally  impossible  to  say  that  he  would  not  attempt 
to  enforce  it. 

The  years  between  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen  and  the 
formation  of  the  league  of  Augsburg  were  filled  with 
lawsuits  of  this  nature,  brought  by  the  king  against 
his  neighbors.  Louvois  was  at  the  height  of  his 
power,  and  he  controlled  the  foreign  policy  of  France. 
The  animosities  which  he  excited,  when  added  to  the 
apprehension  of  Louis's  ambition  and  the  resentment 
aroused  by  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  united 
Europe  against  that  country. 

More  than  thirty,  years  had  elapsed  since  the  peace 
of  Westphalia.  During  that  time  France  had  occu- 
pied the  acquisitions  which  she  had  then  obtained,  and 
the  peaceful  acquiescence  of  all  concerned  would  seem 
to  have  settled  any  question  as  to  what  territory  was 
ceded.  The  conduct  of  the  parties  is  the  best  adjust- 
ment of  a  boundary,  whether  the  question  be  the 
frontier  of  a  state  or  the  location  of  a  line  fence.     It 


212         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

was  now  claimed,  however,  that  France  had  not  re* 
ceived  all  to  which  she  was  entitled  by  the  terms  of 
that  treaty  as  well  as  by  the  more  recent  one  of 
Nimeguen.  Such  controversies  were  submitted  to 
French  local  courts,  whose  decisions  naturally  were  in 
favor  of  their  own  country.  The  judgments  of  these 
tribunals,  by  which  towns,  cities,  and  duchies  were  de- 
clared reunited  to  France,  were  promptly  followed  by 
the  enforcement  of  French  sovereignty  over  the  dis- 
puted district.  The  acquisitions  thus  made  were  not 
very  important,  but  the  process  was  irritating.  Ter- 
ritories were  abstracted  which  had  recognized  the 
jurisdiction  of  German  electors,  of  Sweden,  and  of 
Spain,  and  those  various  governments,  though  little 
weakened,  were  greatly  angered.  The  German  diet 
asked  of  Louis  to  state  the  extent  of  the  claims  which 
he  intended  to  enforce.  The  only  answer  they  re- 
ceived was  that  the  monarch  purposed  to  obtain  what 
had  been  ceded  by  the  treaties.  The  diet  agreed  to 
submit  to  the  judgments  which  the  courts  of  reunion 
had  pronounced  before  1681,  but  the  decisions  were  as 
elastic  as  the  claims.  Louvois  began  to  erect  a  fortress 
on  a  bit  of  land  that  had  not  been  reunited.  The  Ger- 
mans protested,  and  the  minister  wrote  the  Parliament 
of  Metz  to  send  him  a  decree  covering  the  territory  in 
question,  and  to  antedate  it.  The  decree  was  forth- 
coming, duly  certified  as  of  a  date  six  years  earlier, 
and  the  minister  went  on  with  his  fortifications.^ 
Such  a  procedure  was  amusing,  but  the  amusement 
of  baiting  one's  neighbors  may  be  carried  too  far. 

In    1681,  the   important    city  of    Strasbourg   was 
added  to  these  new  acquisitions.    There  was  no  treaty 

1  Louvois  to  S^xe,  November  27,  1687  ;  to  La  Goupilli^re, 
December  3  ;  D,  G.,  800. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  213 

sufficiently  elastic  to  cover  this  ancient  republic,  and 
the  French  took  it  by  the  strong  hand.  Money  was 
freely  used  to  obtain  the  good-will  of  influential 
burghers,  and  the  citizens  of  a  commonwealth  which 
had  existed  for  more  than  four  centuries,  seeing  that 
resistance  was  useless,  consented  without  much  reluc- 
tance to  merge  their  individuality  in  the  French  king- 
dom. They  were  given  liberal  terms.  Most  of  their 
civic  privileges  were  preserved ;  they  were  allowed,  to 
a  large  extent,  freedom  of  trade  and  freedom  from 
imposts ;  while  the  cathedral  was  restored  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Protestants  were 
secured  in  their  religious  privileges.^ 

Strasbourg  was  really  a  part  of  Alsace,  and  neces- 
sary for  the  safety  of  that  province ;  nor  did  its  citizens 
lose  by  the  surrender  of  an  independence  which,  in 
the  changed  condition  of  Europe,  could  not  have  en- 
dured much  longer.  But  on  the  day  that  Strasbourg 
was  united  to  a  kingdom  of  which  it  was  to  remain  a 
contented  member  for  two  centuries,  another  acquisi- 
tion was  made  that  served  no  purpose  except  to  ex- 
cite the  apprehensions  of  Europe.  After  a  series  of 
obscure  negotiations,  Casal,  a  powerful  fortress  in 
northern  Italy,  was  turned  over  to  the  French  armies. 
This  was  a  new  quarter  for  Louis's  activity.  The  nu- 
merous pamphlets,  which  declared  that  he'  aspired  to 
universal  monarchy,  seemed  to  derive  plausibility 
from  the  seizure  of  a  town  whose  only  value  was  as  a 
basis  for  Italian  conquest.^ 

These  appropriations  of  neighboring  territory  at  last 

^  Documents  inedits  concernant  V Alsace  ;  Correspondence  of  the 
Department  of  War. 

^  La  conduite  de  la  France ;  La  monarchie  universelle  de  Louis 
XIV. ;  Soupirs  de  la  France  esclave,  etc. 


214  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

led  to  a  petty  war  with  Spain.  Spain  alone  could 
make  no  opposition  to  the  armies  of  France ;  the  Em- 
peror was  engaged  in  a  war  with  Turkey ;  England 
was  subsidized,  and  the  rest  of  Europe  was  not  yet 
ready  to  take  up  arms.  In  1684,  a  truce  of  twenty 
years  was  made,  which  left  Louis  in  occupation  of 
Strasbourg,  Luxemburg,  and  all  the  territory  which 
had  been  reunited  to  France  by  decrees  rendered  prior 
to  August  1, 1681.  His  rights  were  not  formally  and 
finally  conceded,  but  if  either  wisdom  or  moderation 
had  characterized  his  policy,  he  would  have  remained 
in  imdisturbed  possession,  and  these  important  ac- 
quisitions would  have  been  permanently  incorporated 
with  France.  Instead  of  such  a  course,  the  next  few 
years  were  filled  with  acts  alike  so  offensive  and  so 
useless,  that  they  seem  like  wanton  attempts  to  excite 
the  indignation  of  Europe.  Certainly  they  were  not 
the  measures  of  a  wise,  a  just,  or  a  magnanimous 
sovereign. 

Genoa  had  long  been  viewed  by  Louis  XIV.  with 
an  unfavorable  eye.  Her  only  offense  was  that  her 
people  were  apprehensive  of  his  policy,  and  criticised 
his  conduct  with  unbecoming  frankness.^  Even  this 
was  not  allowed  by  the  counsels  which  prevailed  at 
Versailles.  Th^  citizens  were  warned  of  the  fate  in 
which  such  sentiments  would  involve  them.  They 
were  ordered  to  restore  to  the  descendant  of  a  politi- 
cal offender  the  property  of  his  ancestor,  with  interest 
for  a  century ;  they  were  directed  to  discontinue  build- 
ing galleys  and  strengthening  their  navy,  because  their 
sympathies  with  Spain  rendered  such  conduct  sus- 
picious. 

Genoa  had  fallen  from  the  position  which  she  once 
1  Estrades  to  Louvois,  December  12,  1681. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  215 

held.  Her  merchants  no  longer  controlled  the  trade 
of  the  East;  her  fleets  no  longer  commanded  the 
waters  of  the  Mediterranean ;  but  she  was  still  a  free 
and  an  independent  state,  at  peace  with  all  the  world. 
The  republic  declined  to  comply  with  requests  which 
proceeded  on  the  theory  that  she  owed  obedience  to 
Louis  XIV.,  as  much  as  did  Marseilles  or  Calais. 
The  punishment  was  prompt.  A  fleet  sailed  from  Tou- 
lon and  bombarded  the  town.  Ten  thousand  bombs 
were  thrown  into  an  unprotected  city,  because  it  had 
declined  to  obey  the  arbitrary  commands  of  a  foreign 
sovereign.  A  large  portion  of  Genoa  was  destroyed. 
The  palaces  of  the  doge  and  of  the  great  nobles,  which 
had  long  been  the  admiration  of  Europe ;  the  ware- 
houses of  the  merchants,  whose  ships  carried  the  pro- 
ducts of  civilization  to  exchange  for  the  luxuries  of 
the  East  and  the  fruits  of  the  West ;  the  houses  of 
thousands  of  humble  citizens,  were  consumed  by  the 
flames.  The  light  of  the  conflagration  was  so  power- 
ful that  by  it  one  could  read  at  night  on  the  French 
vessels  stationed  far  out  in  the  bay.^  "  The  princes 
of  Europe  have  learned  that  one  does  not  offend  with 
impunity  the  greatest  monarch  of  the  world,"  wrote 
Louis  himself,  quoting  with  approval  the  sentiment 
of  one  of  his  ministers.^  The  Genoese  were  informed 
that  this  punishment  would  be  followed  by  still  se- 
verer chastisement  if  they  did  not  submit.  The  city 
was  in  no  position  to  contend  with  Louis  XIV.  In 
conformity  with  his  commands,  the  chief  officials  vis- 
ited the  great  monarch  and  presented  the  apologies 
of  the  citizens.  The  doge,  to  whom  the  words  of  his 
address  were  dictated,  informed  Louis  that  in  valor, 

1  Louvois  to  Cr^qui,  June  1,  1684. 

2  Louis  to  Estrades,  November  19,  1684. 


216    FRANCE  UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

greatness,  and  magnanimity  he  excelled  all  kings  of 
history.  These  expressions  of  adulation,  the  pompous 
ceremony,  the  solemn  parade,  gratified  the  vanity  of 
a  king  whose  only  real  grievance  was  that  the  Gen- 
oese had  questioned  his  omnipotence  and  criticised  his 
wisdom.  By  the  laws  of  Genoa,  the  doge  was  not  al- 
lowed to  leave  the  city.  He  was  shown  the  splendors 
of  Versailles,  and  asked  what  seemed  to  him  most  won- 
derful.   '*  That  I  should  be  here  myself,"  was  his  reply. 

Savoy,  like  Genoa,  was  treated  as  if  it  were  a  tribu- 
tary state.  The  duke's  ministers  were  chosen  for 
him,  and  his  policy  was  dictated  to  him.  He  wished 
to  take  a  trip  to  Venice,  but  the  French  ambassador 
told  him  that  this  would  be  distasteful  to  Louis  XIV. 
"  I  did  not  suppose  that  such  a  bagatelle  would  be 
even  known  to  the  king,"  said  the  young  duke  ;  but  he 
obeyed  and  remained  at  home.^  He  desired  to  send  a 
minister  to  Madrid.  He  was  informed  that  this  could 
not  be  allowed,  and  no  ambassador  was  sent.^ 

In  a  far  more  serious  matter  he  was  forced  to  sub- 
mit to  foreign  dictation.  In  the  latter  part  of  1685, 
Louis  was  in  the  flush  of  victory  over  the  Huguenots. 
The  Edict  of  Nantes  had  just  been  repealed,  the  ef- 
forts of  his  soldiers  had  produced  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  conversions,  and  a  taste  for  persecution  had 
been  fostered  by  evil  advisers  and  unwise  applause. 
In  the  valleys  of  the  Alps  lived  a  few  thousand 
simple-minded  people,  who  might  claim  to  be  the  re- 
ligious descendants  of  the  ancient  sect  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  but  whose  faith  had  long  been  identified  with 
the  more  modern  Protestantism  of  the  Reformation. 
Neither  their  retired  life  nor  their  pure  morals  had 

1  Estrades  to  Louis,  October  25,  1684. 
^  2  Correspond ance  de  Savoy. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE,  217 

secured  them  peace,  but  the  last  persecution  to  which 
the  Vaudois  were  subjected  had  been  checked  by  the 
strong  hand  of  CromwelL  Since  then  they  had  en- 
joyed thirty  years  of  tranquillity,  and  had  no  reason  to 
fear  ill-treatment  at  the  hands  of  their  present  sover- 
eign. The  Duke  of  Savoy,  though  a  boy  in  years,  pos- 
sessed the  sagacity  which  for  centuries  has  been  found 
in  his  extraordinary  family ;  he  had  inherited  the  in- 
tellect of  his  ancestors,  without  the  bigotry  which  they 
had  sometimes  shown,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  disturb 
peaceable  and  industrious  subjects.'  But  Louis  XIV. 
had  extirpated  heresy  in  France,  and  he  now  resolved 
to  destroy  it  among  his  neighbors.  First  the  letters 
from  Versailles  held  up  to  the  young  duke  the  great 
achievements  of  the  French  king  in  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion, and  suggested  that  there  was  an  opportunity 
for  him  to  imitate  this  example.  The  prudent  duke 
expressed  the  warmest  admiration  at  the  overthrow 
of  heresy  in  France,  but  he  showed  no  desire  to  un- 
dertake it  in  Piedmont.  Such  remissness  was  not 
allowed.  Victor  Amadeus  was  soon  informed  that, 
unless  he  expelled  the  heretics  from  his  domains, 
he  would  be  visited  with  serious  marks  of  the  royal 
displeasure.  The  French  armies  assembled  on  the 
frontier  of  Piedmont,  and  the  duke  saw  that  there 
was  no  refuge  but  submission.  He  accordingly 
ordered  the  Vaudois  to  leave  his  dominions,  but  his 
sincerity  was  so  distrusted  that  he  was  not  allowed  to 
enforce  his  own  commands.  A  French  army  entered 
Piedmont,  and  proceeded  to  invade  the  distant  valleys 
occupied  by  the  sectaries.  They  met  with  a  brave 
and  a  fruitless  resistance.  Villages  were  destroyed, 
men  and  women  killed ;  the  devastation  of  the  Palat- 
inate  was  anticipated  in  the  valleys  of  the  Vaudois. 


218  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

At  last  the  French  commander  could  send  a  satisfac^ 
tory  report  to  Louvois  :  "  This  country  is  completely 
desolated  ;  there  are  neither  people  nor  animals  left. 
I  hope  that  we  shall  remain  here  until  the  race  is  en- 
tirely extirpated.  If  the  soldiers  do  not  kill  those 
who  are  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands,  they  are  sent 
to  the  hangman."  ^  All  were  not  killed  :  some  ten 
thousand  men  and  women  were  made  prisoners.  This 
number  was  soon  reduced  by  disease.  "  These  mala- 
dies," wrote  Louis,  "  will  relieve  the  duke  from  the 
trouble  he  has  had  in  the  care  of  these  rebels,  and  I 
doubt  not  that  he  will  be  easily  consoled  for  the  loss 
of  subjects  whom  he  can  replace  by  better  and  more 
faithful  ones."  ^  Victor  received  an  offer  for  the 
purchase  of  the  captives,  to  be  used  by  the  Turks  as 
galley  slaves,  and  if  he  had  accepted  it,  he  could  have 
pleaded  that  Louis  XIY.  had  set  the  example  of  send- 
ing Protestants  to  the  galleys.  He  declined  to  follow 
that  precedent,  and  turned  over  the  Vaudois  prisoners 
to  the  Protestant  canton  of  Berne. ^ 

Louis's  policy  had  at  last  consolidated  all  Europe 
against  him.  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  almost 
every  Protestant  state  in  Germany  was  an  ally  of 
France.  During  the  long  war  with  Holland,  Sweden 
remained  constant  to  his  interests.  In  Amsterdam 
an  influential  party  among  the  merchants  inclined  to 
the  French  alliance,  and  resisted  the  persistent  efforts 
of  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  protract  the  war. 

1  Catinat  to  Louvois,  May  9, 1686. 

2  Louis  to  Marquis  d'Arcy,  November  8,  1686. 

^  The  memoirs  and  letters  of  Catinat  and  Correspond ance  de 
Savoy,  Aff.  Etr.,  are  the  authorities  for  this  lamentable  chapter 
of  history.  A  full  account  of  it  is  given  in  Rousset's  Histoire  de 
Louvois, 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  219 

The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  the  per- 
secution of  the  Huguenots,  made  an  enemy  of  every 
Protestant  state  in  Europe.  Wherever  the  refugees 
went,  they  related  the  story  of  their  wrongs  and  of 
their  sufferings.  The  churches  and  the  market-places 
of  Amsterdam  and  Berlin,  of  Stockholm  and  Copen- 
hagen, resounded  with  tales  of  the  woes  of  Protestant 
brethren,  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  wicked  king  of 
France.  The  victim  of  bigotry  showed  the  wounds 
that  he  had  received  from  his  cruel  persecutors  ;  he 
told  of  a  daughter  languishing  in  prison,  of  a  brother 
toiling  in  the  galleys. 

The  zealous  Catholic  joined  with  the  zealous  Prot- 
estant in  condemnation  of  the  French  king.  Louis 
had  affronted  the  Pope  ;  he  had  seized  the  revenues  of 
the  church  ;  he  had  insisted  that  the  quarters  of  his 
ambassador  at  Rome  should  continue  the  safe  resort 
for  murderers,  thieves,  and  harlots,  who  could  thus 
practice  their  wickedness  with  impunity  almost  in  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Father.  The  ministers  of  the 
Emperor  declared  that  Louis  would  gladly  see  the  infi- 
dels in  possession  of  Vienna;  that  he  sympathized 
with  the  policy  of  the  Great  Turk,  and  imitated  his 
conduct  and  his  cruelty.  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
republics  and  monarchies,  were  eager  to  combine 
against  a  sovereign  who  was  the  common  enemy 
of  all.i 

In  July,  1686,  the  league  of  Augsburg  was  formed, 

1  See,  for  these  various  grounds  of  accusation,  La  conduite  de 
la  France,  Dialogue  entre  Genes  et  Alger,  villes  foudroyees,  Les 
larmes  de  VAngleterre,  La  cour  de  France  turhanisee,  etc.,  etc.  The 
number  of  such  pamphlets  issued  about  this  period  is  prodigious. 
I  have  given  a  statement  of  their  complaints,  without  discussing 
how  far  they  were  justified. 


220         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

by  wticli  the  Emperor,  Spain,  Sweden,  and  most  of  the 
German  princes  bound  themselves  to  maintain  an  army 
of  sixty  thousand  men,  and  to  act  in  unison  against 
any  infraction  of  the  treaties  in  force.^  Such  a  pur- 
pose seemed  pacific,  but  it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  the 
course  of  events  would  soon  involve  the  league  in  actual 
conflict  with  France.  Louis  was  sufficiently  sagacious 
to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  this  combination,  and  his 
conduct  was  now  characterized  by  greater  moderation. 
The  Duke  of  Savoy  again  undertook  a  journey  to 
Venice,  and  the  French  did  not  hazard  offending  him 
by  any  further  prohibitions.  The  spirit  of  insubordi- 
nation to  the  would-be  master  was  visible  elsewhere 
than  in  Piedmont.  Louis  sought  to  convert  the  twenty 
years'  truce  into  a  permanent  treaty,  but  to  this  nei- 
ther Spain  nor  the  Emperor  would  consent. 

While  all  Europe  was  in  this  condition  of  unrest,  a 
change  in  the  political  situation  brought  the  agitation 
to  a  crisis.  The  Elector  of  Cologne  had  long  been 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  France,  and  Cardinal  Fiirs- 
tenberg,  the  Bishop  of  Strasbourg,  had  been  chosen  as 
his  coadjutor.  This  would  ordinarily  have  secured  for 
him  the  succession,  and  Fiirstenberg  was  the  devoted 
servant  of  the  French  king,  to  whom  he  owed  his 
bishopric  and  his  cardinal's  hat.  In  June,  1688,  the 
elector  died.  A  rule  of  the  chapter  made  the  Pope 
master  of  the  situation.  By  this  provision,  a  candi- 
date who  already  held  a  bishopric  required  two  thirds 
of  all  the  votes  of  the  chapter,  while  otherwise  a 
majority  was  sufficient.  The  Pope  could  dispense 
with  the  requirement,  and  this  he  usually  did  without 

1  Dumont,  Corps  Dip.  Spain  and  Sweden  were  members  of 
the  league  by  virtue  of  the  possessions  which  they  held  in  the 
empire. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  221 

question,  for  it  was  not  often  that  one  was  chosen 
to  so  exalted  a  position  who  did  not  already  hold  im- 
portant ecclesiastical  offices.  But  while  he  had  the 
power  to  grant  a  dispensation,  he  had  an  unquestion- 
able right  to  refuse  it.  Louis  was  now  to  find  how 
short-sighted  was  the  policy  by  which  he  had  alienated 
Innocent  XI.  It  was  essential  to  France  that  the 
Elector  of  Cologne  should  be  her  ally.  His  territo- 
ries were  important,  both  from  their  size  and  from 
their  situation ;  he  could  send  twelve  thousand  men 
into  the  field.  To  have  a  friendly  elector  was  a  matter 
far  more  important  than  the  gratification  of  an  ob- 
stinate vanity  in  preserving  useless  and  odious  privi- 
leges. Louis  had  insisted  that  his  ambassador  at 
Kome  should  yield  nothing  of  his  prerogatives,  and 
by  his  persistence  in  this  demand  he  lost  the  Elector 
of  Cologne  as  an  ally.  Prince  Clement  of  Bavaria 
was  brought  forward  as  the  candidate  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  France.  Out  of  twenty-four  votes,  Fiirsten- 
berg  had  thirteen,  and  Prince  Clement  nine.  Unless 
Fiirstenberg  could  obtain  a  dispensation,  he  was  not 
canonically  elected,  and  the  choice  of  the  elector  fell 
to  the  Pope  himself.  In  this  emergency  Louis  sent  a 
special  messenger  to  Innocent.  He  offered  to  aban- 
don the  privileges  of  his  ambassador,  and  to  consent 
that  Prince  Clement  should  be  chosen  coadjutor  and 
secured  in  the  succession,  if  the  Pope  would  con- 
firm the  election  of  Fiirstenberg.  Unless  this  were 
done,  the  Pope  was  warned  that  his  conduct  would 
excite  a  general  war  in  Europe ;  Prince  Clement,  he 
was  reminded,  was  not  twenty  years  old,  and  had 
never  taken  orders,  though  he  already  held  two  bish- 
oprics ;  the  Holy  Father  was  adjured  to  prevent  the 
scandal  of  such  a  choice,  and  the  waste  of  Christian 


222         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

blood  that  would  result  from  it.^  His  enemies  de- 
clared that  Innocent  XI.  was  not  a  good  Catholic,  but 
no  one  ever  claimed  that  he  was  not  a  good  hater.  A 
general  war  waged  against  Louis  XIV.  had  no  terrors 
for  the  Pope.  He  refused  even  to  receive  the  king's 
envoy.  When  informed  of  this,  Louis  sent  a  violent 
letter  denouncing  Innocent's  conduct.  "  God  will 
punish  him  that  is  guilty,"  said  the  Pope  when  he  had 
heard  the  letter  read,  and  without  leaving  the  room  he 
directed  that  the  bull  should  be  sent  forthwith  which 
designated  Prince  Clement  as  archbishop  and  Elector 
of  Cologne.^  In  the  long  conflict  between  Innocent  and 
Louis,  the  Pope  was  enabled  to  inflict  the  last  and  the 
most  injurious  blow.  Of  all  the  king's  enemies,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  any  two  did  him  more  harm  than  the 
Pope  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  whom  he  had  domineered 
and  browbeaten  from  mere  wantonness.  Louis  de- 
clared that  he  would  support  the  rights  of  Cardinal 
Fiirstenberg ;  the  French  army,  under  the  command  of 
the  dauphin,  advanced  to  the  Rhine  and  laid  siege  to 
Philipsburg,  and  a  nine  years'  war  was  formally  begun. 
Though  the  French  king  was  nominally  the  ag- 
gressor, it  was  certain  that  war  would  soon  have  been 
declared  upon  him.  The  position  of  Europe  was 
such  that  he  had  either  to  surrender  the  acquisitions 
of  the  last  ten  years,  or  gain  what  advantage  he  could 
from  the  initiative  in  a  conflict  that  was  inevitable. 
He  had  been  severely  criticised  because  he  began  the 
attack  in  Germany,  and  left  the  Prince  of  Orange  to 
prosecute  his  expedition  against  James  II.  undisturbed. 

1  Instructions  a  Chamlay,  July  6,  1688  ;  Louvois  to  Chamlay, 
July  23,  Papiers  de  Chamlay,  It  was  claimed  that  Prince  Cle- 
ment was  but  fifteen.  —  Cor.  de  Rome^  318,  319. 

^  Nouvelles  de  Romej  October  3,  1688. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  223 

Undoubtedly  the  acquisition  of  the  English  crown  by 
Louis's  bitterest  enemy  was  the  severest  blow  that  he 
could  receive,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  any  move- 
ment of  his  armies  would  have  prevented  it.  He  was 
long  aware  of  the  purpose  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
Of  this  he  had  informed  James,  and  he  had  notified 
the  Dutch  that  any  act  of  hostility  against  that  sov- 
ereign he  should  regard  as  an  attack  upon  himself. 
James  had  complained  bitterly  of  Louis's  interfer- 
ence, and  had  proclaimed  offensively  that  he  was  in 
no  need  of  such  protection.^  He  was  not  the  faithful 
servant  to  Louis  that  his  brother  had  been,  and  if  he 
had  remained  on  the  throne  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  he  would  have  been  found  acting  with  the  league 
of  Augsburg  against  the  French.^  Louis,  however, 
did  not  allow  his  conduct  to  be  governed  by  pique, 
and  he  continued  to  act  in  James's  interest.  He  was, 
indeed,  far  from  anticipating  the  sudden  and  complete 
success  which  awaited  William  in  England.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  English  people  would  remain  constant 
to  their  sovereign,  and  he  did  not  expect  that  in  a  few 
months  William  of  Orange  would  be  their  acknow- 
ledged king.^ 

In  this  he  was  wrong,  but  it  is  impossible  to  see 
how  he  could  have  prevented  this  result.  In  the  years 
that  were  past  he  might,  indeed,  have  so  shaped  his 
policy  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  William 
to  equip  an  army  in  Holland,  with  which  to  try  his 
fortune  in  England.  By  his  persecution  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  by  regulations  directed  against  Dutch  trade, 

1  Louis  comments  on  this  in  his  letter  to  Barillon,  September 
30,  1688. 

2  Negociations  d^Avaux,  vi.  276. 

*  Proofs  of  this  are  abundant  in  Louis's  correspondence. 


224  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Louis  had  alienated  his  friends  in  Holland.  His 
ambassador,  the  Count  of  Avaux,  wrote  repeatedly 
that  by  reason  of  these  measures  the  Dutch  were  rally- 
ing as  one  man  around  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Louis 
answered  that  he  did  not  purpose  to  be  dictated  to  by 
the  merchants  of  Amsterdam  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  should  treat  his  own  subjects,  and  that  to 
change  his  commercial  policy  would  show  a  feebleness 
unbecoming  his  dignity.^  When  the  Dutch  had  been 
soured  by  years  of  such  conduct,  when  every  move- 
ment of  Louis  XIV.  since  the  peace  of  Nimeguen  had 
bettered  the  position  of  his  wily  antagonist,  it  was  too 
late  in  the  summer  of  1688  to  save  James  II.  The 
Hollanders  were  irritated  with  Louis,  and  were  will- 
ing to  abet  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  his  designs.  The 
English  nation  was  eager  for  a  change.  If  William 
had  sailed  over  in  a  yacht,  with  only  a  body-guard  of 
followers,  it  is  probable  that  his  expedition  would 
f  have  been  successful.  It  was  not  the  army  he  brought 
\  with  him  that  secured  him  the  English  crown.  He  suc- 
\  ceeded  because  England  wished  to  be  rid  of  James  II. 
The  blame  which  has  been  lavished  on  Louis  be- 
I  cause  he  did  not  begin  the  war  by  an  invasion  of  the 
Low  Countries  seems  unjust.^  The  result  of  the  inva- 
sion of  Holland  in  1672,  when  she  was  without  an 
ally,  did  not  encourage  such  an  attempt  in  1688,  when 
all  Europe  would  have  taken  up  arms  in  her  defense. 
It  is  certain  that  William  would  not  have  been  turned 
from  his  purpose,  whether  the  armies  of  Louis  be- 

1  Neg.  d' Avaux,  i.  152,  155,  212,  227  ;  vi.  159  et  passim, 

2  Such  is  the  view  taken  by  M.  Rousset  in  his  Histoire  de  LoU" 
vois.  Lord  Macaulay  is  the  most  familiar  name  of  those  who 
have  claimed  that  Louis  made  a  fatal  mistake,  and  that  he  might 
have  prevented  the  expedition  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  225 

sieged  cities  in  Flanders  or  cities  on  the  Rhine.^  Be- 
cause the  French  laid  siege  to  Philipsburg,  instead  of 
to  Namur  or  Maestricht,  he  was  enabled  to  prepare 
his  expedition  with  more  deliberation,  to  sail  with  a 
larger  fleet,  to  take  with  him  a  larger  army.  He  had 
little  need  of  either.  Not  all  the  fleets  nor  all  the 
armies  of  France  could  have  kept  James  II.  on  the 
throne,  from  which  his  subjects  were  ready  to  expel 
him.  The  success  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  was  sure, 
unless  James  abandoned  his  endeavors  to  overthrow 
the  laws,  the  liberties,  and  the  religion  of  England. 
That  was  the  only  danger  which  William  had  to  fear, 
and  fortunately  for  him  it  was  not  a  serious  one. 

The  flag  at  the  masthead  of  the  frigate  on  which 
William  of  Orange  embarked  declared  that  he  would 
maintain  the  Protestant  religion.  Yet  the  papal  bless- 
ing probably  accompanied  his  expedition,  as  much  as 
that  of  William  of  Normandy  six  hundred  years  before. 
Innocent  was  told  that  he  was  aiding  a  prince,  who 
only  waited  a  favorable  wind  to  deprive  a  Catholic 
sovereign  of  his  crown  and  his  life.^  The  French  am- 
bassador truly  replied  that  Innocent's  only  apprehen- 
sion as  to  William's  undertaking  was  lest  it  might 
be  unsuccessful.^  It  has  been  claimed  that  Innocent 
was  unaware  of  William's  plans,  and  that  he  believed 
the  prince  to  be  collecting  forces  with  which  to  resist 
Louis's  endeavors  in  behalf  of  Cardinal  Fiirstenberg. 
The  pontiff  was  far  too  sagacious  to  be  ignorant  of 

1  Avaux  admitted  that,  even  if  Louis  should  lay  siege  to 
Brussels,  this  would  not  deter  William  from  his  undertaking.  — 
Avaux  to  Louis,  October  7,  1688. 

2  Louis  to  Cardinal  d'Estr^es,  October  11,  1688. 

8  Dispatch  of  Lavardin,  December  27,  1688  ;  Correspondance 
de  Home. 


226  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

the  object  of  this  expedition,  when  it  was  stated  in 
every  court  in  Europe,  and  believed  by  every  sover- 
eign except  the  one  against  whom  it  was  directed.^ 
He  knew  that  the  aid  which  he  gave  the  league  of 
Augsburg,  and  the  choice  that  he  made  of  an  Elector 
of  Cologne,  were  of  assistance  to  William  of  Orange. 
But  the  Holy  Father  loved  James  II.  much  less  than 
he  hated  Louis  XIV.  Probably,  also,  he  estimated  at 
their  true  value  the  efforts  of  James  to  restore  Eng- 
land to  the  fold  of  the  church,  which  excited  the  hopes 
of  the  courtiers  of  Versailles.^  He  attached  more  im- 
portance to  the  league  against  France  than  to  James's 
endeavors  for  the  conversion  of  the  English. 

Philipsburg  surrendered  after  a  siege  of  a  little  over 
a  month.  Whatever  advantage  the  French  gained  by 
this  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  devasta- 
tion of  the  Palatinate  in  the  following  year.  The  re- 
sponsibility for  this  act  of  barbarism  must  rest  equally 
upon  Louvois  who  advised  it,  and  Louis  who  allowed 

1  The  official  correspondence  shows  that  the  object  of  William's 
expedition  was  repeatedly  stated  in  the  papal  court.  Innocent 
may  have  claimed  that  he  did  not  believe  it,  but  if  he  was  blind, 
it  was  because  he  did  not  wish  to  see.  —  Estr^es  to  Louis,  Sep- 
tember 10,  1688 ;  Louis  to  Estrdes,  October  11,  1688  ;  Lavardin 
to  Louis,  February  1,  1689,  etc. ;  Correspondance  de  Rome.  The 
public  declaration  of  the  Pope  in  favor  of  James,  and  such  dis- 
patches as  those  of  Estrdes  to  Louvois,  December  18,  1687, 
prove  nothing  to  the  contrary.  Innocent  was  obliged  to  observe 
a  certain  official  propriety  in  speaking  of  a  Catholic  sovereign 
attacked  by  a  Protestant  prince,  but  he  was  not  an  unsophisti- 
cated neophyte  in  European  politics,  unaware  of  the  purposes  of 
others  or  the  results  of  his  own  acts. 

2  See,  for  illustrations  of  this,  the  journals  of  Dangeau  and  ol 
Sourches,  passim.  It  is  amusing  to  observe  how  the  opinion  of 
these  wiseacres  on  James's  achievements  for  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion changed  after  they  had  cost  him  his  throne. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  227 

it.  It  was  urged  as  a  pretext,  that  to  lay  this  region 
waste  would  make  an  invasion  of  Alsace  more  diffi- 
cult. It  served  only  to  make  the  enemies  of  France 
more  resolute.  Louvois's  motive  was  to  intimidate  his 
adversaries,  and  he  only  succeeded  in  irritating  them. 
The  reports  of  cities  burned,  fields  ravaged,  churches 
desecrated,  peasants  and  townspeople  beggared  and 
left  to  starve,  made  the  soldier  fight  with  more  zeal, 
and  the  taxpayer  contribute  with  more  willingness, 
against  an  enemy  who  did  not  respect  the  laws  of 
God  or  of  humanity.  "  Once,"  said  a  pamphleteer, 
"the  French  were  esteemed  a  humane  and  civilized 
nation,  but  now  a  Frenchman  and  a  cannibal  are  re- 
garded as  much  the  same  thing."  ^  Like  so  many  of 
the  acts  which  Louis  countenanced  under  the  advice 
of  his  ferocious  minister  of  war,  the  burning  of  the 
Palatinate  was  a  blunder  as  well  as  a  crime. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy  revenged  himself  for  the  treat- 
ment he  had  received  by  joining  the  alliance  against 
France,  and  the  situation  of  his  territory  made  him  a 
dangerous  enemy.  The  French  now  had  to  support 
armies  in  Catalonia,  Piedmont,  the  Low  Countries, 
and  on  the  Rhine.  On  the  sea,  their  fleets  were 
powerful  enough  to  contend,  almost  on  equal  terms, 
with  those  of  England  and  Holland  combined.  The 
French  won  the  victory  of  Beachy  Head  and  suffered 
the  defeat  of  La  Hogue.  Notwithstanding  these  pro- 
digious exertions,  the  war  was  not  waged  in  a  manner 
to  insure  a  speedy  and  successful  conclusion.  In 
Flanders,  the  Marshal  of  Luxembourg  won  in  succes- 
sive years  the  brilliant  victories  of  Fleurus,  Steenkerke, 
and  Neerwinden.  They  were  productive  of  much 
glory,  and  of  very  little  else.  Luxembourg  inflicted 
^  Soupirs  de  la  France, 


228  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

stinging  defeats  upon  William,  but  the  close  of  the 
campaigns  found  the  respective  armies  in  nearly  the 
same  position  that  they  had  occupied  at  the  beginning. 
In  1691,  Mons  was  captured.  The  siege  was  con- 
ducted by  Vauban,  and  when  the  city  surrendered  he 
received  a  present  of  one  hundred  thousand  francs  for 
his  services,  and  he  was  invited  to  dine  at  the  king's 
table.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  great  engineer 
had  been  thus  honored,  and  he  esteemed  it  a  reward 
far  more  valuable  than  the  money.^ 

In  1692,  the  strong  fortress  of  Namur  was  besieged 
and  taken  by  the  French  army,  under  the  personal 
command  of  the  king.  Of  all  his  conquests  this  grat- 
ified him  the  most.  Namur  was  a  place  of  great 
strength ;  it  had  been  deemed  impregnable ;  it  was 
defended  by  one  of  the  most  famous  of  living  engi- 
neers ;  the  army  of  William  III.  was  encamped  near 
b}^  but  was  unable  to  relieve  the  town.  The  victory 
was  enthusiastically  applauded  by  Louis's  subjects, 
and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  express  his  own  approba- 
tion of  his  own  conduct.^  In  his  delight  he  conde- 
scended to  patronize  his  opponent.  Some  criticised 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  he  said,  because  he  did  not 
hazard  a  battle  in  the  endeavor  to  relieve  Namur. 
"There  was,  however,  wisdom  in  this  decision,"  he 
added.  "  The  experience  of  the  past  had  shown  that 
it  was  useless  to  oppose  a  design  which  the  king  car- 
ried out  in  person,  and  William  judged  Namur  lost  as 
soon  as  he  knew  that  Louis  was  laying  siege  to  it."  ^ 

1  Journal  de  Dangeau,  April  9,  1691.  Louis  was  present  dur- 
ing the  siege. 

2  Relation  de  ce  qui  s^est  passe  au  siege  de  Namur;  (Euvres  de 
Louis  XIV.,  iv.  341. 

»  Jb.y  390. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  229 

The  monarch's  jealousy  of  William  as  a  soldier  led  him 
at  times  to  speak  of  his  rival  with  less  magnanimity. 
In  the  preceding  campaign  he  criticised  the  conduct 
of  one  who  certainly  was  not  his  inferior  in  personal 
courage.  A  bomb  killed  one  of  William's  soldiers 
near  the  spot  where  the  king  was  dining,  and,  like  a 
sensible  man,  he  got  out  of  the  way  of  unnecessary 
danger,  and  finished  his  meal  elsewhere.  "  I  am  sur- 
prised," wrote  Louis,  ''  that  this  should  have  disturbed 
the  repast  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  because  it  seems 
to  me  that,  since  he  had  begun  his  dinner  in  that 
locality,  he  should  have  finished  it  there."  ^  The  crit- 
icism is  characteristic  of  the  critic. 

The  capture  of  Namur  was  the  last  of  the  victories 
won  by  Louis  in  person,  and  the  following  campaign 
saw  his  farewell  appearance  at  the  head  of  his  armies. 
With  110,000  men,  and  every  appliance  alike  for  war 
and  luxury,  he  entered  the  Low  Countries.  The 
forces  of  the  allies  were  already  in  the  field,  and  he 
found  that  he  could  not  invest  Liege  except  at  the 
risk  of  an  engagement.  The  army  of  William  III. 
was  not  over  50,000  strong,  and  it  was  possible  to  in- 
flict upon  him  a  crushing  defeat  that  might  go  far 
towards  ending  the  war.  The  hesitation,  the  moral 
timidity,  that  had  kept  Louis  from  risking  a  pitched 
battle  during  the  many  years  that  he  had  accompanied 
his  armies,  controlled  him  now.  He  announced  that 
the  Rhine  was  the  critical  point  where  the  forces  of 
France  must  be  concentrated,  and  that  he  must  sacri- 
fice his  own  plans  to  the  interests  of  the  state.  In 
vain  did  the  Marshal  of  Luxembourg  fall  on  his 
knees  before  his  sovereign,  and  implore  him  not  to 
let  this  great  opportunity  escape.  Thirty  thousand 
1  Louis  to  Marshal  of  Luxembourg,  August  14, 1691. 


230    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

men  were  sent  to  the  Ehine,  and  the  king  at  once  re- 
turned to  Versailles.  So  sudden  and  so  unexpected  was 
his  departure,  that  the  officers  had  barely  time  to  pre- 
sent their  farewell  respects.  The  army  of  the  Rhine, 
under  the  command  of  the  dauphin,  even  though  thus 
reinforced,  accomplished  absolutely  nothing.  With 
the  forces  that  remained,  Luxembourg  attacked  Wil- 
liam and  won  the  bloody  victory  of  Neerwinden. 

Louis  never  again  appeared  in  the  field.  The  rea- 
sons that  he  gave  for  declining  an  engagement,  and 
which  perhaps  he  believed  really  controlled  him,  could 
not  remove  his  secret  dissatisfaction  that  he  had  again 
lost  the  opportunity  of  winning  a  pitched  battle.  The 
pamphlets  of  his  enemies  were  filled  with  sneers  at  his 
conduct,  which  they  charged  to  faint-heartedness,  to 
physical  cowardice,  to  the  fact  that  he  was  under  pet- 
ticoat government  and  Mme.  de  Maintenon  wanted 
him  to  go  home.  Certainly  he  did  not  read  these 
libels.  He  read  but  little,  and  read  only  what  told  of 
his  praise.  Yet,  though  he  heard  nothing  save  the 
sound  of  flattery  and  the  voice  of  courtiers,  the  dim 
consciousness  of  hostile  criticism  penetrated  his  mind. 
The  officers,  who  rushed  to  present  their  compliments 
at  his  departure,  had  not  been  able  to  conceal  their 
amazement  at  his  conduct,  even  when  they  bowed 
the  lowest.  The  time  was  past  when  superiority  in 
numbers,  discipline,  and  equipment  made  victory  cer- 
tain for  the  French.  Louis  felt  that  if  he  appeared 
again  in  the  field,  he  might  expose  himself  to  re- 
pulses, to  failures,  to  sneers,  which  would  be  felt 
though  they  never  reached  his  ear.  He  liked  also  to 
be  accompanied  by  his  court  when  he  took  the  field, 
and  Mme.  de  Maintenon  was  very  loath  to  undertake 
such  journeys.     She  was  getting  old.     She  was  trou- 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE,  281 

bled  by  rheumatism.  She  complained  bitterly  of  the 
bad  roads,  the  bad  lodging,  the  fatigue  and  discom- 
fort of  these  expeditions.  It  was  not  diflScult  for  her 
to  induce  the  king  to  abandon  the  role  of  a  soldier.^ 

Death  removed  from  the  scene  the  greatest  minister 
and  the  greatest  general  of  France.  Louvois  pre- 
served his  influence  over  his  master,  but  his  favor 
diminished.  The  imperious  character  of  the  minister 
increased  with  years,  and  at  times  it  involved  him  in 
conflicts  with  a  king  who  was  very  tenacious  of  his 
authority.  The  war  had  not  been  marked  by  the 
unbroken  success  which  had  long  attended  the  French 
armies.  When  a  reverse  was  sustained,  there  were 
many  ready  to  blame  the  despotic  and  unpopular  sec- 
retary of  war.  He  had  also  an  insidious  and  most 
dangerous  enemy  in  Mme.  de  Maintenon.  Her  influ- 
ence over  Louis  increased  with  years,  and  she  was 
usually  present  at  the  conferences  of  the  king  with 
his  ministers.  Rarely  did  she  express  an  opinion, 
and  never  unless  it  was  asked;  but  she  observed  if 
she  did  not  talk,  and  a  judicious  word,  dropped  when 
alone  with  the  king,  might  go  far  to  defeat  a  project 
which  she  disapproved,  or  to  injure  a  person  whom 
she  disliked.  She  regarded  Louvois  as  violent,  dan- 
gerous, and  impious.  He  took  no  steps  to  propitiate 
her ;  he  had  not  the  faculty  by  which  one  stoops  to 
conquer.  Labor,  harassment,  and  anxiety  told  upon 
him.  On  July  8,  1691,  he  was  greatly  chagrined  at 
receiving  news  of  a  shameful  defeat  suffered  in  Pied- 

1  For  Louis's  last  appearance  with  his  armies,  see  Mem.  de 
St.  Simon,  i.  82-86  ;  Journal  de  Dangeau,  iv.  300-306  ;  Mem.  de 
Berwick,  338  ;  Mem.  de  St.  Hilaire  ;  Mem.  de  Sourches,  iv.  210. 
All  were  eyewitnesses,  —  Louis  to  Lorges,  June  1  and  7,  1693  ; 
Cor.  Gen.  de  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  iii.  370-377  et  pas. 


232  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

mont,  and  due  to  the  inefficiency  and  cowardice  of  the 
officers  in  command.  On  the  16th,  he  worked  with 
the  king  as  usual.  He  showed  signs  of  illness,  and 
Louis  bade  him  retire.  An  hour  later  he  was  dead. 
He  was  but  fifty,  and  for  thirty  years  he  had  been  a 
minister  of  Louis  XIV. 

So  sudden  a  death  excited  grave  suspicions  that 
Se  had  been  poisoned,  but  there  is  nothing  to  prove 
that  this  was  the  fact.  Though  he  had  done  much 
for  the  military  development  of  France,  he  was  little 
mourned.  The  master  whom  he  served  zealously, 
though  not  always  wisely,  was  glad  to  be  rid  of  a  ser- 
vant who  had  become  oppressive.  Louis  wished  to 
^how  that  the  great  king  was  not  dependent  on  great 
ministers.  ''  Tell  the  king  of  England,"  he  said  to  a 
messenger  from  James,  presenting  his  regrets  at  Lou- 
vois's  death,  "  that  I  have  lost  a  good  minister,  but 
his  interests  and  mine  will  not  fare  any  the  worse."  ^ 

Mme.  de  Maintenon  seems  to  have  felt  a  gloomy 
satisfaction  that  her  enemy  had  gone  to  his  account, 
"  unhouseled,  unaneled,  and  with  all  his  imperfections 
on  his  head,"  and  that,  without  opportunity  for  confes- 
sion and  absolution,  he  would  probably  go  to  hell.  A 
little  later  the  Duke  of  La  Feuillade  died  suddenly, 
and  she  wrote  :  "  He  had  only  time  to  say,  '  Lord 
have  mercy  on  me.'  It  was  more  than  the  other  had, 
but  I  do  not  know  that  it  was  enough."  ^ 

In  January,  1695,  the  Marshal  of  Luxembourg 
died,  and  ended  a  career  illustrious  by  glory,  and 
stained  by  vice.  There  was  no  great  general  to  take 
his  place,  and  the  war  languished.     Namur  was  recap- 

^  Journal  de  Dangeau^  Jn\j  17,  1691. 

2  Mme.  de  Maintenon  to  Mme.  de  Fontev/awlt,  September, 
1691. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  233 

tured  by  William,  but,  except  this  success,  neither 
side  made  any  decided  gain.  Though  the  contest  was 
prosecuted  with  little  vigor,  it  was  carried  on  with 
great  barbarity.  Such  cruelties  had  not  been  prac- 
ticed on  non-combatants  since  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 
The  country  occupied  by  hostile  armies  was  subjected 
to  ruinous  contributions ;  if  they  were  not  paid,  the 
delinquents  were  punished  with  fire  and  the  sword. 
When  a  city  or  a  town  was  abandoned  and  there  was 
no  hope  of  further  plunder,  it  was  almost  a  matter  of 
course  to  set  it  on  fire.  This  license  made  marauders 
of  the  soldiers,  and  guerrillas  of  the  peasants.  The 
soldier  who  wandered  from  his  company  was  shot  by 
the  peasant  lurking  behind  some  tree  or  hedge.  In 
reprisal  a  hamlet  was  burned,  and  women  and  children 
were  murdered  or  left  to  starve.  In  the  riot  of  such 
scenes,  the  invaders  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  lost 
their  lives.  Many  got  drunk,  and  were  burned  in  the 
flames  which  they  had  themselves  kindled.  A  roof 
or  wall  would  go  down,  and  bury  in  the  ruins  a  party 
of  soldiers  carousing  among  the  wine  casks  of  the 
cellar.  Cities  were  bombarded,  not  with  any  hope 
of  forcing  them  to  surrender,  but  simply  to  teach 
them  good  manners.  It  was  in  vain  that  Vauban 
complained  that  these  practices  wasted  ammunition, 
wearied  the  troops,  exasperated  the  enemy,  and  did 
not  gain  an  inch  of  ground  for  the  king.^  The  minis- 
ters were  more  merciless  than  the  generals. 

Both  parties  indulged  in  these  modes  of  warfare. 
The  English  ships  bombarded  many  of  the  cities  on 
the  French  coast.  They  inflicted  misery  and  loss  on 
innocent  inhabitants,  and  gained  nothing  for  them- 
selves. In  return  for  this,  the  French  shelled  the  city 
1  Vauban  to  Louvois,  June  27,  1691. 


234         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

of  Brussels  for  two  days,  and  it  was  estimated  that 
the  flames  destroyed  20,000,000  livres  of  property.^ 
Such  cruelties  brought  the  war  no  nearer  to  an  end. 
Little  was  done  in  the  Low  Countries  after  the  loss 
of  Namur.  On  the  Rhine  hardly  anything  more  im- 
portant than  plundering  a  city  or  burning  a  town  was 
accomplished  during  nine  years  of  languid  warfare. 

The  dauphin  commanded  the  army  of  the  Rhine  for 
several  years,  but  he  manifested  no  talent  as  a  war- 
rior. He  was  fond  of  riding,  and  every  day  he  de- 
voted a  few  hours  to  galloping  in  hot  haste  to  survey 
his  outposts  and  picket  lines  ;  after  this  there  was 
occasionally  a  council  of  war,  where  he  never  opened 
his  mouth,  and  where  no  decision  was  reached  more 
important  than  to  send  a  courier  to  Versailles  for 
further  orders ;  he  then  gave  the  password  for  the 
morrow,  returned  to  his  tent,  and  occupied  himself 
in  playing  cards.^ 

In  fact,  all  parties  were  exhausted  by  a  contest  ex- 
tending over  so  many  years.  The  financial  situation 
of  France  was  deplorable.  The  expenses  far  exceeded 
the  receipts,  and  the  devices  to  increase  the  revenue 
were  generally  of  a  most  deplorable  nature.  Innu- 
merable offices  were  created  and  sold  ;  the  currency 
was  debased ;  the  king  and  those  who  had  plate  sent 
it  to  the  mint  to  be  melted  for  the  public  need.  Com- 
merce was  so  reduced  that  the  duties  yielded  much  less 
than  formerly.  The  crops  were  exceedingly  poor 
during  a  number  of  years.  Protracted  wars,  enormous 
armies,  bad  government,  religious  persecution,  inju- 
dicious taxation,  unwise  commercial   regulations,  de- 

1  Mem.  de  Berwick^  342  ;  Mem.  de  Sourches^  v.  35. 

2  Journal  de  Dangeau.  He  attended  the  dauphin  during  the 
campaign  of  1690. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  235 

stroyed  the  prosperity  which  might  have  been  enjoyed 
by  an  industrious  people  dwelling  in  a  fertile  land. 
France  was  incapable  of  any  great  exertion.  Fortu- 
nately for  her,  her  enemies  were  not  in  much  better 
condition,  and  they  were  now  weakened  by  an  impor- 
tant defection.  In  1696,  the  Duke  of  Savoy  was  in- 
duced to  desert  the  alliance  against  Louis  XIV.  He 
obtained  advantageous  terms,  and  he  must  have  re- 
flected with  pleasure  on  the  change  in  his  condition 
since  he  was  counseled  by  Louis  and  browbeaten  by 
Louvois,  The  French  abandoned  Casal.  They  sur- 
rendered Pignerol,  a  fortress  important  from  its  posi- 
tion and  its  strength,  and  which  had  been  gained  for 
France  by  Richelieu.  They  restored  all  the  places 
which  they  had  captured  during  the  war.  The  duke 
was  promised  that  his  minister  should  receive  at  the 
French  court  the  same  treatment  as  the  representa- 
tives of  crowned  heads,  a  distinction  which  he  had 
long  supplicated  in  vain.  His  daughter  was  betrothed 
to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  the  heir  to  the  French 
throne.^  What,  perhaps,  he  prized  most  of  all,  he 
might  hope  to  be  free  from  incessant  and  domineer- 
ing interference.  As  he  exchanged  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty  with  the  Count  of  Tess^,  he  said  to  him : 
"  Ask  your  king  to  send  us  now  an  ambassador  who 
will  leave  ns  in  peace  with  our  sheep,  our  wives,  and 
our  mistresses..  From  the  day  I  had  the  use  of  my 
reason  until  this  unfortunate  war,  there  was  never  a 
week  that  some  demand  was  not  made  on  me  as  to 
my  conduct  or  that  of  my  family ;  and  when  I  had 
acceded  to  nine  demands  out  of  ten,  I  was  threatened 
unless  I  would  agree  to  the  tenth."  ^     Ambassadors, 

1  Actes  de  la  Paix  de  Ryswick,  t.  i. 

2  Tesse  to  king,  July  1,  1696. 


s 


236         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

as  he  well  knew,  had  only  followed  instructions  from 
Versailles,  but  the  conflict  in  which  he  had  engaged 
proved  for  the  Duke  of  Savoy  a  war  of  independence. 
In  the  future  he  was  allowed  to  govern  his  own  state 
without  foreign  interference. 

The  defection  of  Savoy  inclined  the  desires  of  Louis's 
opponents  towards  peace,  and  he  offered  terms  which 
were  all  that  they  could  demand,  and  more  than  the 
fortunes  of  war  had  entitled  them  to  expect.  The 
king  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  bring  the  conflict  to 
an  end.  His  people  were  distressed,  his  finances  dis- 
ordered ;  the  war  was  not  productive  of  glory  ;  he  no 
longer  took  the  field  himself,  and  gratified  his  pride 
by  the  capture  of  some  strong  city  in  Flanders.  The 
health  of  Charles  II.  was  very  precarious,  and  Louis 
could  hope  to  obtain  little  from  the  Spanish  succes- 
sion, if  it  became  vacant  while  he  was  at  war  with 
Spain.^  He  made  offers  which  were  acceptable  to 
William  HI.,  his  bitterest  enemy,  and  through  his 
influence  the  allies  were  induced  to  agree  to  them. 

In  his  first  proposition,  Louis  had  offered  to  in- 
clude Strasbourg  among  the  cities  which  he  sur- 
rendered. It  would  have  been  a  bitter  sacrifice  for 
the  pride  of  his  people.  "  Strasbourg,"  wrote  Vau- 
ban,  ''  should  no  more  be  relinquished  than  the  Fau- 
bourg St.  Germain."  ^  The  delays  of  Spain  and  the 
Emperor  allowed  the  French  to  capture  Barcelona, 
and  after  that  important  victory  they  refused  to 
give  up  Strasbourg.     The  terms  on  which  the  peace 

1  The  letters  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  are  full  of  her  desire 
for  peace.  *'  I  would  give  all  for  peace,''  she  wrote  in  1693. 
"  We  have  only  to  pray,  and  to  await  what  it  will  please  God  to 
do."— Cor.  Gen.,  iii.  383. 

2  M^m.  of  Vauban  to  the  king. 


COALITIONS  AGAINST  FRANCE.  237 

of  Eyswick  was  actually  made,  in  September,  1697, 
were,  however,  humiliatiDg  for  France.  All  the  ac- 
quisitions of  twenty  years,  with  the  exception  of 
Strasbourg,  were  lost.  From  Dinant,  of  which  Louis 
had  possessed  himself  almost  as  soon  as  the  treaty  of 
Nimeguen  was  ratified,  to  Barcelona,  which  was  cap- 
tured just  before  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  was  signed,  all 
was  surrendered.  Luxemburg,  and  numerous  cities, 
duchies,  counties,  and  villages  which  had  been  an- 
nexed by  the  courts  of  reunion,  were  now  given  back, 
and  Louis  promised  that  he  would  not  again  adopt 
such  modes  of  procedure.  All  that  had  been  captured 
during  the  war  was  also  restored.  The  claim  of  Fiirs- 
tenberg  to  the  electorate  of  Cologne,  which  was  one 
of  the  pretexts  for  hostilities,  had  long  been  aban- 
doned. It  was  not  even  mentioned  in  the  treaty. 
Other  conditions  of  the  peace  were  not  injurious, 
though  some  of  them  were  distasteful  to  the  king's 
pride.  The  Dutch  were  allowed  to  sell  their  herrings, 
and  the  duties  on  their  goods,  and  on  their  ships 
trading  in  France,  were  reduced.  With  France  at 
this  period,  as  with  China  in  our  day,  one  gained  com- 
mercial privileges  at  the  cannon's  mouth.  William 
of  Orange  was  recognized  as  king  of  Great  Britain, 
and  Louis  promised  that  he  would  give  no  aid  to  any 
claimant  for  that  throne.  This  provision,  in  an  evil 
day  for  his  own  fortunes,  he  afterwards  saw  fit  to 
violate.  He  would  not  agree  to  remove  James  II. 
from  St.  Germain,  though,  if  he  had  expelled  that 
unfortunate  sovereign  from  France,  his  overburdened 
people  would  have  been  saved  the  expense  of  support- 
ing an  additional  court,  and  he  might  have  escaped 
having  England  as  an  enemy  in  the  war  of  the 
Spanish  Succession.  The  interests  of  the  country 
were  sacrificed  to  a  display  of  royal  courtesy. 


238  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

On  another  question  Louis  was  firm.  He  would 
make  no  concessions  to  the  Protestants  in  France. 
The  treaty  provided  also  that  the  Catholic  religion 
should  be  allowed  in  the  territories  which  he  surren- 
dered, and  he  thus  secured  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those 
whom  he  could  not  retain  as  subjects.  These  provi- 
sions obtained  for  religion,  and  the  retention  of  Stras- 
bourg, were  the  only  advantages  which  Louis  was  able 
to  claim  from  the  peace  of  Eyswick.^  The  conditions 
of  the  treaty  were  distasteful  to  a  proud-spirited  peo- 
ple, which  had  always  rejoiced  when  the  boundaries 
of  France  were  extended,  and  been  loath  to  see  them 
narrowed.  Peace  was  welcome,  but  it  did  not  seem 
a  satisfactory  termination  of  twenty  years  of  intrigue, 
and  almost  ten  years  of  war,  that  France  should  be 
again  placed  where  the  peace  of  Nimeguen  had  left  her. 
No  glory  of  conquest  atoned  for  heavy  taxes  and 
diminished  prosperity.  "The  treaty  is  more  disgrace- 
ful than  that  of  Cateau-Cambresis,"  said  Vauban, 
"which  has  been  considered  the  most  shameful  one 
ever  made.  We  have  always  beaten  the  enemy,  and 
yet  we  make  a  peace  which  dishonors  the  king  and 
the  nation."  ^ 

1  See  his  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  January  5,  1698. 
For  the  terms  of  the  various  treaties  and  the  negotiations  in 
reference  to  them,  see  Actes  et  Memoires  de  la  Paix  de  Ryswick^ 
5  vols.,  and  the  correspondence  of  William  III.  and  Louis  XIV. 
published  in  1848. 

*  Vauban  to  Racine,  September,  1697. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   SPANISH   SUCCESSION. 
1698-1713. 

The  great  question  of  the  Spanish  Succession  had 
a  large  influence  in  bringing  Louis  to  consent  to  the 
peace  of  Ryswick,  and  to  yield  up  the  fruits  of  twenty 
years  of  conquest.  The  life  of  Charles  II.  of  Spain 
had  always  seemed  precarious,  but  his  rapidly  in- 
creasing infirmities  now  made  it  certain  that  the  end 
was  at  hand.  To  secure  the  whole  or  some  part  of 
the  possessions  of  that  empire  on  which  the  sun  never 
set  had  been  the  object  of  Louis's  life.  But  if  Charles 
died  while  France  was  at  war  with  Spain  and  the  rest 
of  Europe,  it  was  probable  that  the  entire  heritage 
would  go  to  the  house  of  Austria,  and  the  policy  of 
forty  years  would  result  in  naught. 

Hardly  had  peace  been  made  when  this  question 
absorbed  the  attention  of  statesmen.  Negotiations 
and  treaties  went  for  nothing  at  the  last ;  all  things 
worked  together  against  the  peace  of  Europe ;  but  the 
responsibility  of  thirteen  years  of  war,  ruinous  for 
France  and  disastrous  for  all  parties,  does  not  rest  on 
Louis  XIV.  alone. 

Thirty  years  before,  Austria  and  France,  the  two 
powers  claiming  the  succession  which  would  be  left  by 
the  death  of  Charles  II.  without  children,  had  agreed 


240  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

between  themselves  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  heri- 
tage. In  this  treaty,  Louis  and  his  minister  Lionne 
had  consulted  the  true  interests  of  France.  They  had 
secured  great  acquisitions  of  neighboring  territory, 
which  would  have  increased  the  strength  and  prosper- 
ity of  that  country.^  They  had  left  to  the  Emperor 
the  barren  honor  of  the  Spanish  throne ;  foreign  do- 
minions which  would  not  render  his  power  dangerous 
to  Europe  ;  possessions  in  Italy  which,  though  eagerly 
coveted  by  Austria,  would  have  been  of  small  value 
to  France. 

Since  1668  the  situation  of  Europe  had  so  altered 
that  it  was  impossible  such  an  agreement  should  now 
be  renewed.  Some  of  the  possessions,  which  by  it 
were  to  be  ceded  to  France,  Louis  had  conquered 
without  waiting  for  Charles  to  die.  His  increasing 
power  and  his  restless  ambition  had  excited  such  ap- 
prehension, that  only  by  war  could  he  now  obtain  the 
accessions  of  territory  to  which  his  chief  rival  had 
once  freely  consented.  Since  then,  also,  William  of 
Orange  had  become  king  of  England,  and  if  he  could 
not  control,  he  largely  influenced  the  foreign  policy 
of  that  country  and  of  Holland.  Both  of  those  na- 
tions were  exceedingly  jealous  of  any  increase  in  the 
power  of  France ;  and  they  especially  feared  her  acqui- 
sition of  the  Low  Countries,  the  portion  of  the  Span- 
ish empire  which  the  Emperor  had  been  most  willing 
to  cede.  By  the  statesmen  of  Holland  and  by  Wil- 
liam III.,  the  preservation  of  a  strong  barrier  in  Flan- 
ders was  deemed  absolutely  necessary  for  the  liberty 
of  the  Seven  Provinces.  Perhaps  they  exaggerated 
its  importance,  but  this  belief  controlled  their  policy. 

The  Emperor  Leopold  was  also  less  inclined  to 
^  See  page  66,  supra. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  241 

grant  favorable  terms  to  France,  because  he  had  now 
strong  hopes  of  securing  the  whole  succession  for  him- 
self. In  1689,  when  the  alliance  against  Louis  was 
perfected,  William  and  the  States  General  had  guar- 
anteed to  the  Emperor  the  entire  Spanish  Succession, 
without  even  providing  against  the  union  of  the 
crowns  of  Spain  and  the  empire  on  the  same  head. 
If  this  agreement  had  been  carried  out,  it  would  have 
reconstructed  the  empire  of  Charles  V.,  and  it  can 
only  be  explained  by  the  exaggerated  fear  that  Wil- 
liam entertained  of  the  possible  empire  of  Louis  XIV. 
Ten  years  later,  both  William  and  the  States  General 
were  convinced  that  their  covenant  was  a  foolish  one, 
and  they  declined  any  longer  to  be  bound  by  its 
terms.  The  Emperor  denounced  their  bad  faith,  but 
his  denunciation  was  unheeded. 

There  were  now  three  claimants  to  the  Spanish 
throne.  Louis  asserted  the  right  of  his  son  the  dau- 
phin, as  heir  of  Maria  Theresa,  the  oldest  sister  of 
Charles  II.  The  title  of  the  dauphin  would  have  been 
unquestionably  valid,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  renun- 
ciation signed  by  his  mother.  To  this  plea  Louis  re- 
plied that  the  instrument  was  absolutely  invalid,  and 
that,  even  had  it  ever  possessed  any  validity,  its  con- 
ditions had  not  been  fulfilled  by  Spain.  The  infant 
son  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  the  grandson  of  a 
younger  sister,  might  be  regarded  as  next  in  the  suc- 
cession, if  the  dauphin  was  barred  by  the  renunciation 
of  his  mother.  His  claims  were  supported  by  consid- 
erations of  more  weight  than  the  interpretation  to  be 
given  to  covenants  and  protocols.  He  could  acquire 
the  entire  Spanish  empire,  without  thereby  obtaining 
a  power  which  would  be  dangerous  to  the  tranquillity 
or  to  the  independence  of  the  rest  of  Europe.     The 


242  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Emperor  likewise  traced  his  right  to  the  succession 
through  female  descent.  It  was  further  removed  than 
that  of  the  others,  but  he  had  in  his  favor,  as  he  be- 
lieved, the  fact  that  England  and  Holland  feared  him 
much  less  than  they  feared  Louis,  and  that  the  pres- 
ent king  of  Spain  and  his  wife  were  anxious  that  the 
inheritance  should  go  to  the  house  of  Austria. 

The  question,  however,  was  not  one  to  be  decided  by 
construing  renunciations,  or  by  investigations  into  the 
rules  of  inheritance.  It  uivolved  the  present  hap- 
piness and  the  future  lot  of  countless  millions.  It  af- 
fected not  only  the  inhabitants  of  Castile  and  Ara- 
gon,  but  Italians  who  dwelt  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Alps,  and  Italians  who  lived  among  the  olives  and 
the  orange  groves  of  Sicily  and  Naples  ;  Dutchmen 
whom  dikes  protected  from  the  waters  of  the  North 
Sea;  and  black  men,  who,  under  a  tropical  sun, 
toiled  at  the  culture  of  the  tobacco  plant  and  the  sugar 
cane.  It  was  idle  to  say  that  such  an  inheritance  was 
to  be  disposed  of  as  would  be  the  title  to  a  hundred 
acres  of  land ;  that  it  was  governed  by  the  rules  of 
law  which  would  be  laid  down  by  the  vote  of  four 
judges  to  three  in  an  action  of  ejectment  or  of  tres- 
pass. There  was  no  court  competent  to  render  a  de- 
cision, no  tribunal  which  had  the  power  to  enforce  its 
decree.  It  was  equally  idle  to  say  that  any  person 
had  the  absolute  right  to  govern  the  scattered  states 
of  this  great  empire ;  or  that  Europe  had  no  voice  as 
to  a  succession  which  affected  the  interests,  and  per- 
haps the  safety,  of  every  European  state.  The  Span- 
iards themselves  could  justly  claim  a  voice  in  the 
choice  of  their  own  sovereign,  but  they  were  indiffer- 
ent as  to  who  he  might  be  ;  their  only  desire  was  that 
Spain  should  continue   to  rule  over  the  states   that 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  243 

were  subject  to  her,  for  the  greatest  possible  extension 
of  the  worst  possible  government.  It  was  evident, 
therefore,  that  wisdom  required  an  endeavor  to  ad- 
just the  succession  in  a  manner  which  should  satisfy  the 
different  claimants  and  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe, 
and  it  was  equally  evident  that  this  could  not  be  ac- 
complished by  allowing  any  one  of  the  three  to  have 
it  all.  If  this  endeavor  failed,  every  intelligent  man 
knew  that  there  was  but  one  arbitration  to  whose  de- 
cision claimants  so  powerful  would  submit,  and  that 
was  the  arbitration  of  the  sword. 

Soon  after  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  negotiations  were 
commenced  between  France,  England,  and  Holland 
for  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
by  the  only  practicable  means,  an  equitable  partition. 
William  was  anxious  for  an  agreement  which  should 
prevent  a  ruinous  war,  and  which  should  also  prevent, 
what  he  believed  would  be  equally  ruinous,  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  power  of  France.  Louis  XIV.  was  not 
only  willing,  but  desirous,  for  such  an  arrangement. 
Unquestionably  he  preferred  that  one  of  his  descend- 
ants should  wear  the  crown  of  Spain,  with  its  empire 
undiminished.  He  can  hardly  be  blamed  for  that. 
The  man  who  is  not  willing  to  have  his  son  made  sole 
legatee  of  a  wealthy  uncle  possesses  qualities  that  are 
rare.  Louis  recognized,  however,  that  this  result 
could  not  be  attained  except  at  the  end  of  a  long  and 
bloody  war.  His  taste  for  fighting  had  diminished  with 
years,  and  had  been  weakened  by  the  discovery  that 
its  results  were  not  so  certain  as  he  had  believed  in 
the  victorious  days  of  his  youth.  He  was  sincerely  de- 
sirous of  a  permanent  peace.  He  wrote  to  his  ambas- 
sador in  England  that  he  was  aware  of  the  inclination 
of  the  Spanish  to  choose  one  of  his  grandsons  for  their 


244  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

king.  "  The  disj)osition  of  the  Spanish,"  he  added, 
"  and  my  own  forces,  give  me  great  hope  for  a  favorable 
conclusion  of  a  war,  but  one  cannot  tell  the  end.  The 
misfortune  and  suffering  which  it  brings  are  sure  ;  and 
after  I  have  sacrificed  so  much  to  give  my  subjects 
repose,  no  interest  is  more  important  than  to  preserve 
the  tranquillity  which  they  now  enjoy."  "  I  can  enforce 
my  grandson's  rights,"  he  says  again,  "but  my  desire 
for  tranquillity  leads  me  to  make  terms  with  Wil- 
liam." ^  Louis  might  have  obtained  more  favorable 
terms  of  partition,  if  he  had  seen  fit  to  negotiate  with 
the  Emperor.  The  possessions  of  Spain  most  valu- 
able to  France  were  those  which  would  strengthen 
her  northern  boundary,  and  carry  her  limits  further 
towards  the  Rhine.  Those  the  Emperor  would  be 
most  willing  to  cede,  and  William  and  the  States 
General  would  be  most  sure  to  refuse.  But  Louis 
believed  that  the  Emperor  neither  desired  a  fair  par- 
tition, nor  had  the  power  to  enforce  one  if  agreed 
upon.  England  and  Holland,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
shown  the  extent  of  their  resources  in  the  late  war. 
They  had  contributed  in  men  and  money  more  than 
all  the  innumerable  allies  with  whom  they  were  asso- 
ciated. If  he  could  agree  with  them  upon  a  fairly 
satisfactory  partition,  the  rest  of  Europe  would  be 
forced  to  submit. 

The  negotiations  thus  begun  resulted,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1698,  in  what  is  known  as  the  first  partition 
treaty.  William  preferred  the  infant  son  of  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  as  the  future  king  of  Spain.  Louis 
was  not  unwilling  to  concede  this,  if  fair  compensation 
could  be  made  for  the  abandonment  of  the  rights  of 
the  dauphin.  What  the  allies  were  willing  to  give 
1  Louis  to  Tallard,  July  15  and  August  5,  1698. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  245 

him,  and  what  he  at  last  agreed  to  accept,  was  cer- 
tainly moderate  indemnity.^  If  his  conduct  can  be 
criticised,  it  is  because  he  was  content  with  accessions 
which  would  have  weakened  rather  than  strengthened 
France.  Naples,  Sicily,  and  some  Italian  towns  on 
the  Mediterranean  were  to  be  given  the  dauphin.  The 
experience  of  the  past  had  shown  that  these  distant 
provinces  were  apt  to  be  a  curse  rather  than  a  bless- 
ing. The  lives  of  countless  men  had  been  sacrificed 
in  the  endeavor  to  enforce  the  rights  of  French  kings 
over  Italian  possessions.  There  was  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  Naples  would  be  any  less  perilous  a  heri- 
tage in  the  eighteenth  than  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Louis  himself  admitted  that  the  best  thing  to  do  with 
Naples  and  Sicily  might  be  to  make  of  them  a  sepa- 
rate kingdom  for  one  of  his  grandsons.^  The  small 
province  of  Guipuzcoa,  adjoining  France  on  the  south, 
was  added  to  her  share.  The  Emperor  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  negotiations,  but  it  was  agreed  that  Milan 
should  be  given  to  his  son,  the  archduke.  The  son 
of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  to  inherit  Spain  and  all 
the  rest  of  her  foreign  possessions ;  and  if  he  died 
without  children,  his  father  was  to  succeed  him  on  the 
Spanish  throne. 

The  partition  treaty  excited  universal  indignation 
in  Spain.  This  feeling  was  natural,  but  it  was  not 
entitled  to  consideration.  That  country  had  long 
shown  its  inability  to  regulate  its  affairs  with  any  de- 
gree of  wisdom  ;  its  rule  rested  like  a  deadly  pall  upon 
widespread  possessions  in  the  New  World  and  the 

1  Lord  Macaulay  has  described  the  negotiations  as  to  the  par- 
tition treaties  with  great  fullness,  and  with  his  usual  accuracy 
and  lucidity. 

2  Louis  to  Tallard,  April  19, 1698. 


246  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Old.  It  was  impossible  that  this  foreign  empire  should 
remain  unimpaired,  and  the  dismemberment  would  be 
as  beneficial  as  it  was  inevitable.  In  order  to  defeat 
the  partition  if  possible,  Charles  now  made  his  will, 
by  which  he  selected  the  elector's  son  as  sole  heir  to 
the  Spanish  throne  and  all  its  possessions.  The  elec- 
tor, however,  was  not  tempted  by  this  bait ;  he  agreed 
with  the  allies  that  the  title  of  his  son  should  rest,  not 
upon  the  will,  but  upon  the  treaty  of  partition,  and 
that  its  provisions  should  be  carried  out. 

Charles  II.  was  fated  to  do  to  Spain  and  to  Eu- 
rope the  greatest  possible  harm,  whether  he  lived  or 
w^hether  he  died.  His  life  had  been  of  no  use  to 
any  one  in  the  world,  and  to  himself  least  of  all,  but 
his  death  at  this  time  would  have  been  of  inestimable 
advantage.  Though  Louis  had  secured  but  moderate 
terms,  he  was  prepared  to  enforce  the  partition  as  it 
had  been  agreed  upon.  The  Emperor  would  have 
been  discontented  with  his  lot,  but  he  was  in  no  posi- 
tion to  oppose  the  united  decision  of  France,  England, 
and  Holland. 

In  the  autumn  of  1698,  it  seemed  that  Charles  must 
soon  die,  but  he  continued  to  live.  In  February,  1699, 
the  electoral  prince,  a  child  of  five,  was  dead,  and 
Charles  II.  was  still  dragging  out  a  diseased  and  mis- 
erable existence.  Thus  the  first  partition  came  to 
naught  by  the  act  of  God,  and  the  second  partition  was 
to  share  a  similar  fate  by  the  act  of  man.  As  soon  as 
the  death  of  the  electoral  prince  was  known,  Louis 
intimated  his  willingness  to  make  a  new  arrangement. 
The  terms  which  he  demanded  were  reasonable,  and 
he  showed  true  political  wisdom  in  leaving  to  his  rival 
the  more  splendid  but  the  more  useless  part  of  the 
heritage.     In  addition  to  what  France  was  given  by 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  247 

the  first  treaty,  she  was  to  have  Lorraine  ;  and  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  in  exchange  for  this,  was  to  receive 
the  duchy  of  Milan.  All  the  rest  of  the  Spanish  em- 
pire was  allotted  to  the  archduke,  the  second  son  of  the 
Emperor.  This  partition  was  agreed  upon  between 
William  and  Louis  within  two  or  three  months  after 
the  death  of  the  electoral  prince.  They  were  men 
who  knew  their  own  minds,  and  were  not  afraid  of 
reaching  a  conclusion.  Owing  to  delays  in  Holland, 
the  treaty  was  not  finally  ratified  until  the  spring  of 
1700.1 

To  this  treaty  the  Emperor  and  all  the  states  of 
Europe  were  asked  to  accede.  Many  of  the  minor 
powers  expressed  their  approval.  The  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine agreed  to  accept  Milan  in  exchange  for  his 
province.  If  the  Emperor  Leopold  had  been  satisfied 
with  the  share  of  his  son,  the  tranquillity  of  Europe 
would  have  been  assured,  and  Louis  would  not  at  the 
last  have  accepted  the  perilous  heritage  of  the  Span- 
ish monarchy  for  his  grandson.  As  the  archduke  was 
to  have  by  far  the  largest  share,  it  would  seem  that 
Austria  should  have  been  content.  He  was  allotted 
the  kingdom  of  Spain  and  the  West  Indies ;  he  was 
to  be  lord  of  Mexico  and  Peru  and  the  Lowlands. 
France  received  much  less  than  she  was  awarded  by 
the  partition  to  which  the  Emperor  had  agreed  in 
1668. 

Notwithstanding  this,  Leopold  would  not  accept  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  The  principal  reason  for  his  con- 
duct was  a  chronic  inability  to  make  up  his  mind.  It 
was  easier  for  him  to  make  no  decision,  and  to  trust 

^  The  treaty  is  found  in  Corps  Dip.,  t.  vii.  The  negotiations 
can  be  followed  in  the  correspondence  between  William  and 
Heinsius,  and  between  Louis  and  Tallard. 


248  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

to  fortune  to  provide  some  advantageous  solution  of 
the  difficulty.  The  Emperor,  also,  had  great  hopes  of 
obtaining  all,  and  was  unwilling  to  surrender  anything. 
He  knew  that  Charles  would  prefer  that  his  successor 
should  belong  to  the  house  of  Austria,  rather  than  to 
the  house  of  Bourbon  ;  if  Charles  made  a  will  declar- 
ing the  archduke  his  heir,  Leopold  did  not  believe  that 
England  and  Holland  would  go  to  war  to  secure  pos- 
sessions for  Louis  XIV.,  whom  they  feared  and  hated. 
Besides  all  this,  Austria  looked  with  covetous  eyes 
upon  Milan  and  the  other  Italian  possessions  of  Spain, 
and  these  were  taken  from  her  by  the  treaty  of  parti- 
tion. The  ministers  of  Leopold  said  that  Louis  ought 
to  treat  directly  with  the  Emperor,  instead  of  with  the 
maritime  powers ;  Austria  and  France  were  the  only 
parties  interested ;  they  could  determine  upon  a  divi- 
sion, and  if  they  were  content,  no*  one  else  could  com- 
plain ;  England  and  Holland  had  no  business  to  in- 
terfere ;  they  would  surely  deceive  Louis  ;  they  were 
greedy  and  untrustworthy  heretics,  who  had  broken  the 
agreement  they  made  with  the  Emperor  in  1689,  and 
would  break  their  agreement  with  France  with  the 
same  facility.^  Louis  put  no  confidence  in  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  Austrian  court ;  he  had  cast  in  his  lot 
with  England  and  Holland,  and  by  the  bargain  made 
with  them  he  intended  to  abide. 

The  Emperor  was  given  three  months  in  which  to 
join  in  the  treaty.  The  three  months  rolled  by,  and 
he  announced  formally  that  he  would  not  accept  its 
terms.  As  uncle  and  heir  of  the  king  of  Spain,  he 
said  that  he  could  not  in  courtesy  discuss  any  parti- 

^  These  arguments  were  reported  to  Louis  by  Villars,  tho 
French  minister  at  Vienna,  and  can  be  found  in  his  correspon- 
dence. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  249 

tlon,  wliile  that  monarch  might  still  hope  for  a  long  life 
and  a  numerous  posterity.  Notwithstanding  his  atti- 
tude, it  was  still  possible  that  war  might  be  averted. 
A  secret  article  gave  Leopold  two  months  after 
Charles's  death  during  which  he  could  accept  the  parti- 
tion. If  the  three  powers  continued  firm  in  their  posi- 
tion, he  might  decide  to  take  what  he  could  get,  instead 
of  beginning  a  war  in  which  he  would  surely  be  beaten. 
Other  events  disappointed  the  expectations  and 
changed  the  purposes  of  the  parties  most  interested, 
and  the  Spanish  crown  was  not  again  to  be  thrust 
upon  the  house  of  Austria.  The  Spaniards  had  been 
irritated  by  the  first  treaty  of  partition,  and  their 
wrath  exceeded  all  bounds  when  they  discovered  that 
the  same  parties  were  engaged  a  second  time  in  the 
dismemberment  of  their  monarchy.  Though  a  par- 
tition was  necessary,  no  one  likes  to  be  told  that  he 
must  be  dissected,  and  that  he  is  too  feeble  to  prevent 
the  operation.  The  queen  broke  the  furniture  in  her 
anger  at  the  intelligence,  and  Charles  would  perhaps 
have  done  the  same  if  he  had  possessed  sufficient 
vigor.  As  to  the  person  of  their  future  ruler,  the 
Spanish  were  indifferent.  There  was  no  living  Span- 
iard who  knew  what  it  was  to  have  a  good  govern- 
ment, or  to  live  under  a  wise  king.  No  king  could  be 
worse  than  the  one  they  had,  and  they  did  not  care 
to  find  one  who  would  be  any  better.  The  one  thing 
desired  by  all,  from  the  imbecile  on  the  throne  to 
the  beggar  in  the  street,  was  to  preserve  intact  their 
foreign  empire.  It  was  that  which  united  the  Spain 
of  Charles  II.  with  the  Spain  of  Charles  V.,  and  no 
true  Spaniard  would  deign  to  consider  the  changes 
which  made  the  continuance  of  that  empire  impossi- 
ble.    Statesmen  might  reflect  on  the  condition  of  Eu- 


250         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

rope  and  its  political  necessities ;  they  might  seek  to 
avert,  long  years  of  war  of  which  no  man  could  foresee 
the  result.  The  Spaniard  troubled  himself  with  none 
of  these  things.  It  was  from  the  vice-royalties  of 
Mexico  and  Peru,  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  that  the  no- 
ble expected  to  repair  by  plunder  the  diminution  of 
his  estates  caused  by  display.  The  beggar  wore  his 
rags  with  a  more  heroic  air  because  he  felt  that  he 
was  one  of  a  nation  which  ruled  great  monarchies  and 
distant  peoples.  Their  foreign  dependencies  gratified 
the  two  strongest  qualities  of  the  Spanish,  their  in- 
dolence and  their  pride  ;  from  them  they  obtained 
money  which  they  had  not  earned,  and  a  deference  to 
which  they  were  no  longer  entitled. 

Though  Louis  XIV.  had  suggested  the  treaties  of 
partition  and  had  pressed  them  to  a  conclusion,  the 
Spanish  vented  their  indignation  on  England  and 
Holland.  Louis  had  rights  which  he  must  be  expected 
to  protect,  but  these  remote  heretics  had  no  business 
to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  a  Catholic  state.  Not- 
withstanding the  great  achievements  of  William  III., 
he  was  regarded  with  a  certain  contempt  because,  in- 
stead of  being  an  absolute  monarch,  he  was  fettered 
and  checked  by  a  Parliament.  Though  Charles  11.  of 
Spain  could  with  difficulty  walk,  or  talk,  or  think,  he 
could  ruin  his  kingdom  without  interference  from  his 
subjects,  and  the  position  of  the  English  king  seemed 
contemptible  in  comparison.  William,  moreover,  had 
taken  up  arms  in  defense  of  an  heretical  creed,  and  had 
overthrown  a  lawful  sovereign.  Even  the  Venetian 
ambassador  wrote  of  the  English  that  their  violation 
of  divine  justice  would  bring  terrible  disasters  upon 
that  wicked  nation.^  If  this  was  the  belief  of  a  Vene- 
1  Rel  Vefi.,  1G99. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  251 

tian,  how  much  stronger  would  be  the  confidence  of  a 
Spaniard  in  such  a  result ! 

The  conduct  of  the  Austrian  government  during 
these  years  of  intrigue  was  characterized  neither  by- 
magnanimity  nor  by  wisdom.  Leopold  was  quite  as 
greedy  as  Louis  showed  himself  at  the  end,  and  more 
so  than  he  was  at  the  beginning.  He  was  resolved  to 
obtain  the  entire  heritage  for  the  house  of  Hapsburg. 
He  refused  to  accede  to  the  treaties  of  partition,  by 
which  he  might  have  preserved  the  peace  of  Europe, 
and  secured  advantages  vastly  greater  than  were  ob- 
tained at  the  end  of  thirteen  years  of  war.  While 
Louis  offered  liberal  concessions  to  obtain  peace,  the 
Emperor  would  make  none,  and  he  deserved  little  sym- 
pathy when  he  was  at  last  outwitted  in  his  own  game. 
Leopold  desired  that  one  of  his  sons  should  be  se- 
lected by  Charles  as  heir  of  the  Spanish  throne.  Had 
his  diplomacy  been  characterized  by  the  sagacity  of 
that  of  his  rival,  he  could  easily  have  accomplished 
this  result.  During  the  late  war,  it  would  have  been 
possible  to  send  the  archduke  to  Spain,  to  establish 
there  an  Austrian  army,  to  have  had  the  Austrian 
succession  publicly  declared.  The  critical  time  was 
allowed  to  pass ;  and  after  peace  had  been  made,  the 
Austrians  constantly  injured  their  chances.  Charles 
wanted  the  loan  of  some  troops,  and  the  Emperor  re- 
fused to  furnish  them,  except  at  the  expense  of  the 
Spanish,  who  had  no  money  with  which  to  pay  their 
own  soldiers.  The  ambassadors  of  Austria  also  made 
themselves  unpopular.  The  populace  complained  that 
they  were  alike  proud  and  mean  ;  they  were  as  over- 
bearing as  an  hidalgo,  and  as  niggardly  as  a  miser. 
The  queen  was  the  chief  representative  of  the  Aus- 
trian party,  and  she  was  perhaps  more  hated  than  any 
other  person  in  the  kingdom. 


252         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

The  French  had  long  been  disliked  by  the  Spanish. 
Louis  had  frequently  brought  war  against  them  ;  he 
had  taken  from  them  many  of  their  possessions,  he  had 
humiliated  their  pride ;  it  was  strongly  suspected  that 
as  soon  as  Charles  died  he  would  endeavor  to  annex 
the  Spanish  empire  to  the  French  crown.  But  in  the 
years  following  the  peace  of  Eyswick,  this  condition 
of  public  feeling  changed.  The  magnanimity  with 
which  Louis  surrendered  to  Spain  all  that  he  had 
taken  from  her  during  twenty  years  atoned  for  his 
ancient  misdeeds.  His  persecution  of  the  Huguenots 
excited  the  admiration  of  that  country.^  He  stood 
before  the  world  as  the  great  representative  of  Catholi- 
cism. A  descendant  of  Louis  XIV.  was  felt  to  be  the 
only  fit  sovereign  for  a  nation  to  which  the  Inquisition 
and  autos  dafe  were  dear.  While  the  Emperor  was 
haggling  about  his  troops,  Louis  offered  to  furnish 
ships  to  assist  Spain  in  her  war  with  Morocco.^  The 
Spanish  were  convinced  that  only  by  placing  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  so  powerful  a  monarch 
could  they  prevent  the  dismemberment  of  their  em- 
pire. These  favorable  impressions  were  increased  by 
the  judicious  conduct  of  the  French  ambassador  at 
Madrid.  The  Marquis  of  Harcourt  was  as  politic  and 
as  liberal  as  the  Count  of  Harrach  was  injudicious 
and  parsimonious.  In  a  land  where  display  was  im- 
portant, he  dazzled  the  multitude  by  the  state  which 
he  maintained.  When  he  made  his  formal  entry,  the 
streets  were  deserted  except  where  the  procession 
passed ;  the  balconies  were  filled  with  ladies ;  the 
country  people  came  in,  as  they  would  to  see  a  bull- 
fight ;  the  king  delayed  his  dinner  for  three  quarters 

1  Mem.  de  la  Torre,  i.  136. 

2  Louis  to  Harcourt,  May  6,  1698. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  253 

of  an  hour,  a  thing  which  had  never  before  happened.^ 
Fountains  of  wine  and  chocolate  played  in  front  of 
the  minister's  palace,  at  which  all  could  quench  their 
thirst.  The  palace  itself  was  thrown  open.  It  was 
gorgeously  furnished,  but  the  attention  of  the  multi- 
tude was  especially  attracted  by  portraits  of  the  grand- 
sons of  Louis  XIV.,  to  whose  countenances  the  artist 
had  imparted  all  that  was  possible  of  majesty  and 
benignity.  When  the  marquis  made  his  visits  of  cere- 
mony, five  carriages  accompanied  him,  and  thirty 
valets  and  six  pages,  "  all  as  gorgeously  dressed  as  a 
priest  celebrating  the  mass."  ^  The  manner  in  which 
the  ambassador's  money  was  paid  to  tradesmen,  given 
to  beggars,  and  lent  to  nobles,  suggested  the  reign  of 
plenty  that  could  be  expected  from  the  advent  of  a 
French  sovereign. 

From  the  day  he  accepted  the  Spanish  throne  for 
his  grandson  until  now,  it  has  been  claimed  that  Louis 
was  acting  in  bad  faith  during  all  the  negotiations  in 
reference  to  a  "partition  ;  that  while  with  the  one  hand 
he  was  signing  treaties  with  William  which  he  never 
intended  to  observe,  with  the  other  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  obtain  from  Charles  the  entire  succession.  It 
is  now  possible  to  know  the  truth  of  this  matter. 
We  can  read  all  the  correspondence  between  Louis 
and  Tallard  his  minister  at  London,  Villars  his  min- 
ister at  Vienna,  and  Harcourt  his  minister  at  Madrid. 
His  real  desires  were  certainly  disclosed  in  the  secret 
instructions  which  he  gave  his  representatives.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  one  to  study  this  correspondence 
without  being  convinced  that  Louis  acted  in  perfect 

^  Harcourt  to  Louis,  September  17,  1698. 
2  P^re  de  la  Blaudiniere  to  Gdiidral  de  la  Merci,  September  20, 
1698. 


254  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

good  faith  during  all  these  protracted  negotiations 
until  the  very  end.  Then  a  sudden  temptation  was 
presented  to  him,  and  he  disregarded  alike  the  coun- 
sels of  wisdom  and  the  counsels  of  honesty.  His 
responsibility  for  the  grievous  results  that  ensued  is 
none  the  less,  but  he  was  not  as  entirely  faithless  a 
politician  as  has  been  claimed.  Indeed,  if  we  look 
for  the  honorable  observance  of  treaties,  we  shall  not 
find  it  at  this  era.  During  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  it  was  seldom  that  any  sovereign  or 
statesman  felt  bound  to  respect  a  treaty  longer  than 
suited  his  interests.  European  states  broke  their 
agreements,  when  they  had  the  inclination  and  the 
power,  with  no  more  hesitation  than  do  the  present 
rulers  of  Dahomey  and  Uganda.  Louis  XIV.  violated 
the  treaty  of  partition  with  some  slight  pretense  of 
justification.  With  the  exception  of  England,  every 
nation  which  had  guaranteed  the  succession  of  Maria 
Theresa  of  Austria  broke  its  faith,  without  any  pre- 
tense of  justification.  "  One  should  not  violate  his 
word  without  some  excuse,"  said  Frederick  the  Great, 
"  or  he  will  gain  the  reputation  of  a  trifler."  By  this 
simple  rule  he  governed  his  own  conduct  during  half 
a  century. 

When  Harcourt  was  sent  to  Spain,  no  treaty  of 
partition  had  been  made.  His  instructions  bade  him 
use  every  effort  to  form  a  party  in  the  French  interest, 
and  to  secure  the  Spanish  throne  for  a  Bourbon 
prince.^  The  Austrian  ambassador  was  engaged  in 
similar  endeavors  in  behalf  of  the  archduke,  and  there 
was  no  reason  why  Louis  should  not  do  the  same. 
During  a  large  part  of  the  three  years  that  followed, 
no  treaty  of  partition  was  in  force,  and  every  endeavor 
1  Mem.  pour  servir  au  sieur  Marquis  d^HarcourU 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  255 

o£  a  skillful  diplomacy  was  used  to  favor  the  interests 
of  one  of  Louis's  grandchildren.  But  so  soon  as  the 
king  had  bound  himself,  his  instructions  to  his  min- 
isters show  that  he  expected  to  carry  out  his  agree- 
ments. When  the  first  partition  was  decided  upon,  he 
wrote  to  Harcourt :  "  I  have  balanced  the  arguments, 
whether  to  profit  by  the  present  inclination  of  the 
Spanish,  or  to  be  content  with  advantages  less  ap- 
parent but  more  solid  in  reality,  and  by  that  means 
assure  the  peace  of  Europe.  This  has  led  me  to  treat 
with  England."  He  instructed  his  representative  to 
do  what  he  could  to  reconcile  the  Spaniards  to  a  dis- 
memberment that  was  inevitable,  and  to  insinuate  that 
the  electoral  prince  would  be  the  most  judicious  choice 
for  their  future  king.^  "  Under  these  circumstances," 
he  writes  again,  "  it  is  not  fitting  to  say  anything  to 
the  king  of  Spain  in  reference  to  the  succession."  ^ 
In  like  manner,  when  the  second  partition  had  been 
agreed  upon,  he  wrote  that  this  put  an  end  to  negotia- 
tions at  Madrid,  and  there  was  no  reason  for  Har- 
court's  further  stay.^ 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  Louis  had  little 
hope  of  Charles  selecting  a  Bourbon  prince.  He  knew 
that  the  Spanish  people  were  now  favorable  to  France, 
but  the  Austrian  sympathies  of  the  king  were  supposed 
to  be  insurmountable.  Harcourt  declared  that  a  will 
disposing  of  the  succession  could  have  no  validity 
unless  it  were  ratified  by  the  Cortes,  and  he  took  this 
position  because  he  supposed  that  any  will  would  surely 
be  in  favor  of  the  archduke.     He  repeatedly  asked 

^  Louis  to  Harcourt,  September  15, 1698. 
2  Louis  to  Harcourt,  September  25. 

8  Louis  to  Harcourt,  March  11  and  20,  1700.  "  II  n'est  plus 
question  par  consequent  de  n^gocier  k  Madrid,"  etc. 


256         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Charles  not  to  execute  such  an  instrument.^  Even  the 
favorable  disposition  of  the  Spanish  people  Louis  ex- 
pected to  forfeit,  when  it  was  announced  that  he  had 
joined  in  a  treaty  for  the  partition  of  the  Spanish 
empire.  His  ambassador  wrote  him  that  the  party 
which  favored  France  would  cease  to  exist  when  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  partition  were  known.^  In  the 
spring  of  1700,  the  second  partition  treaty  was  rati- 
fied ;  in  May,  the  Marquis  of  Harcourt  left  Madrid, 
and  France  was  only  represented  by  an  envoy.  At 
that  time  neither  Louis  nor  his  ambassador  had  the 
least  expectation  that  a  Bourbon  prince  would  be  des- 
ignated by  Charles  as  the  future  king  of  Spain.  From 
the  time  that  this  treaty  was  signed,  there  cannot  be 
found  in  the  instructions  sent  to  the  representatives 
of  France  at  Madrid  a  word,  which  even  intimates  a 
desire  that  they  should  obtain  from  Charles  a  wiU  in 
favor  of  a  French  prince.  On  the  other  hand,  Louis 
constantly  expressed  his  hope  that  Charles  would  die 
intestate  ;  in  that  case  he  believed  that  the  Emperor 
would  be  forced  to  accede  to  the  treaty  of  partition, 
and  France  might  obtain  the  portion  allotted  to  her 
without  having  to  go  war  for  it. 

The  instructions  sent  Tallard  show  still  more  strongly 
Louis's  eagerness  to  agree  with  England  and  Holland 
on  a  partition  of  the  Spanish  empire.  Such  a  league, 
he  declared,  would  be  so  strong  that  no  one  could 
oppose  it.^  "  Say  that  it  is  my  intention  to  accom- 
plish punctually  the  conditions  of  the  treaty,  and  that 

1  Harcourt  to  Louis,  April  30,  1698,  et  pas. 

2  Harcourt  to  Louis,  June  30,  1699.  "Le  parti  de  votre 
Majestd  tombera  de  lui-meme,  des  qu'on  sera  inform^  de  la  divi- 
sion de  la  monarchic.'*  —  Louis  to  Bl^court,  July  15,  1700. 

8  Louis  to  Tallard,  September  11,  1699. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  25T 

they  need  have  no  fear  of  offers  that  may  be  made 
elsewhere,"  he  wrote  again.  "  My  only  engagements 
are  with  William  and  the  States  General,  and  I  intend 
to  accomplish  punctually  what  I  have  promised."  ^  In 
his  zeal  in  William's  behalf,  he  instructed  Tallard  to 
insinuate  that  the  French  king  would  willingly  furnish 
him  aid  in  his  contests  with  the  Parliament.^  Louis 
knew  well  that  he  was  not  dealing  with  a  Charles  IL, 
and  he  bade  his  minister  to  use  infinite  precaution  in 
suggesting  such  assistance.  Not  only  were  these  fair 
professions  made,  but,  after  the  second  treaty  was 
signed,  the  Austrian  ambassador  was  informed  that 
the  archduke  might  at  once  enter  Spain  as  its  future 
sovereign  if  the  Emperor  would  accede  to  the  parti- 
tion.^ Had  this  offer  been  accepted  by  Leopold,  it 
w^ould  have  ended  all  scheming  for  a  Bourbon  prince, 
and  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  would  have 
been  prevented.  Two  months  after  Harcourt  had  left 
Madrid,  Louis  sent  to  William  the  copy  of  a  letter 
stating  that  the  Spanish  Council  wished  to  call  his 
grandson  to  the  throne,  and  he  added :  "  Neither  the 
offers  of  the  Emperor,  nor  other  offers  still  more  ad- 
vantageous, will  ever  lead  me  to  violate  the  engage- 
ments I  have  taken."  ^  In  the  autumn  it  was  certain 
that  Charles  could  live  but  a  few  weeks.  Louis  wrote 
Tallard  to  insist  that  England  and  Holland  should  be 
in  readiness  with  ships  and  troops  to  assist  in  the 
execution  of  the  partition,  and  his  letters  show  a 
nervous  apprehension  lest  they  should  be  remiss  in 
this  respect.     On  the  19th  of  October,  almost  three 

1  Louis  to  Tallard,  June  3,  1700. 

2  Louis  to  Tallard,  September  17,  1699,  March  26,  1700. 
«  Manchester  to  Jersey,  May  19,  1700. 

*  Louis  to  Tallard,  June  26,  1700. 


258         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

weeks  after  the  will  in  favor  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
had  been  signed,  Louis  sent  a  secret  dispatch  to  Tal- 
lard,  insisting  that  the  allies  should  at  once  furnish 
troops  for  the  enforcement  of  the  treaty,  and  he  wrote 
his  ambassador  :  "  I  cannot  believe  that  they  will  fail 
in  performing  agreements  so  formal  and  so  precise, 
when  the  time  shall  arrive  to  execute  them."  ^  This  was 
only  twelve  days  before  Charles's  death.  Certainly, 
if  Louis  had  then  contemplated  any  violation  of  the 
partition  treaty,  his  ambassador  would  not  have  been 
insisting  that  England  and  Holland  should  forthwith 
equip  ships  and  soldiers,  which  could  only  be  used 
against  himself.  Those  who  believe  that  his  protes- 
tations were  in  bad  faith  must  admit  that  he  was  not 
such  a  fool  as  to  hasten  the  military  preparations  of 
nations  whom  he  would  soon  have  for  enemies.  It  is 
manifest  that  when  this  letter  was  written,  Louis  fully 
expected  to  carry  out  the  partition,  and  was  anxious 
for  William's  aid  in  case  he  met  with  resistance  in 
taking  possession  of  Milan  and  the  Sicilies. 

In  the  mean  time  events  had  occurred  which  changed 
Louis's  purposes  and  the  future  of  European  history. 
The  Spanish  were  unable  to  avert  the  dismemberment 
which  was  so  offensive  to  their  pride,  but  they  had  the 
satisfaction  of  imposing  on  Europe  all  the  ills  which 
statesmen  had  sought  to  avoid.  The  chief  place  in 
the  counsels  of  Charles  11.  was  now  held  by  Cardinal 
Porto  Carrero,  and  he  at  last  decided  to  exert  his 
influence  in  favor  of  the  French  party.  He  was 
doubtless  controlled  by  the  belief  that  thus  he  would 
be  able  to  gratify  his  own  ambition,  but  his  conduct 
was  in  accordance  with  the  desires  of  the  people 
whose  minister  he  was.  They  wished  to  resort  to  any 
1  Louis  to  Tallard,  October  19,  1700. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  259 

measures  to  preserve  their  empire  intact ;  they  believed 
that  a  French  prince  under  the  protection  of  Louis 
XIV.  alone  would  have  the  power  to  accomplish  this 
result,  and  they  were  indifferent  as  to  the  wars  that 
might  desolate  France  and  Spain  in  the  endeavor. 

The  king  of  Spain  had  no  legal  right  to  decide  who 
should  inherit  his  domains.  There  was,  however,  a 
strong  probability  that  if  he  named  a  successor,  the 
prince  thus  chosen  would  be  recognized  by  almost  the 
entire  nation  as  their  lawful  sovereign.  The  Spanish 
revered  royalty  as  they  reverenced  religion.  They 
obeyed  implicitly  a  living  king,  and  they  would  not 
be  apt  to  disregard  his  desires,  even  when  he  was 
dead.  It  was,  however,  a  delicate  and  a  difficult  oper- 
ation to  obtain  from  the  sovereign,  whose  life  of  mis- 
ery was  fast  approaching  its  end,  a  declaration  in 
favor  of  any  successor,  and  most  difficult  to  obtain  a 
declaration  in  favor  of  a  French  successor.  Among 
all  the  millions  whom  he  ruled,  it  is  doubtful  if  there 
was  a  man  so  unfitted  to  decide  this  great  question  as 
the  person  whom  the  fortune  of  birth  had  placed  on 
the  Spanish  throne.  What  little  intelligence  he  had 
ever  possessed  had  been  destroyed  by  the  life  he  had 
led,  and  the .  diseases  by  which  he  had  been  afflicted. 
As  the  hour  of  death  drew  near,  the  only  feeling  that 
possessed  his  superstitious  and  enfeebled  mind  was  an 
awful  dread  of  the  horrors  that  might  be  awaiting 
him  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave.  It  needed  but  the 
suggestion  of  a  wily  adviser,  and  his  diseased  mind 
saw  visions  of  centuries  of  burning  as  the  punishment 
for  some  proposed  measure.  He  told  the  Austrian 
ambassador  that  he  must  soon  die,  and  unless  he  forth- 
with sent  out  of  Madrid  an  Austrian  regiment  of  the 
Guards,  he  would  probably  be  thrown  into  hell  and 


260  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

burned  for  all  eternity.^     He  thought  only  of  religion, 
and  all  there  was  to  his  religion  was  the  fear  of  hell. 

Charles's  sympathies,  so  far  as  he  was  capable  of 
having  any,  were  strongly  in  favor  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  To  that  family  he  himself  belonged.  Leo- 
pold had  always  been  his  friend  ;  Louis  had  always 
been  his  enemy.  His  wife,  whom  he  feared,  bade  him 
select  the  archduke  as  his  heir.  A  will  in  favor  of  a 
Bourbon  prince  coidd  only  be  obtained  by  frightening 
Charles  into  making  it.  Those  who  surrounded  him 
were,  however,  indifferent  as  to  the  means  they  used  to 
accomplish  the  result.  Charles  was  afraid  of  his  minis- 
ters, and  still  more  afraid  of  his  wife  ;  but  he  feared 
•the  devil  most  of  all.  Porto  Carrero  and  the  confes- 
sor seized  the  opportunity  when  the  queen  was  out  of 
the  palace,  shut  the  king  up  in  a  chamber  and  double- 
locked  the  door,  so  that  she  could  not  return  and  inter- 
fere with  their  arguments.  They  were  unable  to  be 
rid  of  her  entirely,  but  Charles  was  assured  that  de- 
mons entered  the  room  whenever  the  queen  came  in, 
and  the  unhappy  king  lived  in  terror  of  her  appear- 
ance. He  was  in  constant  fear  of  evil  spirits,  and  his 
attendants  played  upon  his  superstitions  to  advance 
their  ends.  Spirits  were  consulted  as  to  the  course 
he  should  pursue.  There  were  French  devils  and 
Austrian  devils,  and  the  difference  in  their  counsels 
was  attributed  to  the  father  of  lies,  from  whom  they 
all  sprung.  All  the  devils  who  were  interviewed  agreed 
that  Charles  was  bewitched.  One  recommended  the 
use  of  consecrated  vinegar,  and  another  advocated 
more  vigorous  remedies.  A  devil  in  the  shape  of  a 
woman  penetrated  into  Charles's  chamber,  but  was 
frightened  off  by  the  sight  of   a  piece  of  the  true 

1  Mem.  de  Harrachj  ii.  38. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  261 

cross.  With  all  this  impious  mummery,  the  condition 
of  the  dying  idiot  became  even  more  pitiable  than 
usual. 

In  the  summer  of  1700,  the  Spanish  council  resolved 
that  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  would  be  best  sub- 
served by  naming  one  of  Louis's  grandsons  as  Charles's 
successor.  Charles  had  still  enough  intelligence  left 
to  attach  little  importance  to  the  advice  of  his  council, 
and  he  hesitated  about  following  it.  In  this  crisis, 
Porto  Carrero  advised  him  to  consult  the  Holy  Father, 
and  Charles  eagerly  sought  this  aid  for  a  timid  con- 
science. Innocent  XII.  was  Pope,  —  a  weak  though 
a  conscientious  man,  and  well  known  to  be  entirely  in 
the  interests  of  France.  Innocent  submitted  the  ques- 
tion to  three  cardinals  whose  sympathies  were  equally 
pronounced.  They  decided  that  the  purpose  of  the 
renunciation  exacted  from  Maria  Theresa  was  to  pre- 
vent the  union  of  the  French  and  Spanish  crowns,  and 
as  that  object  could  be  accomplished  by  the  choice 
of  a  younger  son  of  the  dauphin,  that  family  ouglit 
not  to  be  deprived  of  the  rights  to  which  their  birth 
entitled  them.  The  Pope  thereupon  sent  a  letter  to 
Charles,  advising  him  to  act  upon  the  resolution  of 
his  council.  Still  the  king  hesitated.  His  health  was 
again  much  worse,  and  Porto  Carrero  felt  that  there 
was  little  time  left.  Fortified  by  the  letter  of  the 
Pope,  he  told  Charles  that  there  could  be  no  hope  of 
safety  for  his  soul  unless  he  preferred  the  welfare  of 
his  people  to  any  inclination  for  his  kindred.^     "  I 

1  The  highly  colored  letter  from  the  Pope,  of  which  St.  Simon 
pretends  to  give  the  substance,  and  which  has  been  quoted  from 
him  by  most  historians,  has  no  existence.  The  ntterances  of 
Innocent  were  temperate  and  dignified.  The  spiritual  thumb- 
screws, if  I  may  use  that  expression,  were  not  applied  by  Inno- 


262  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

must  prepare  myself  to  appear  before  a  judge  who  is 
no  respecter  of  persons,"  said  the  unhappy  king,  and 
he  told  the  cardinal  that  upon  him  should  be  thrown 
the  responsibility  of  this  great  decision.  The  minister 
wept  at  this  mark  of  confidence,  but  he  did  not  allow 
his  tears  to  delay  the  preparation  of  the  instrument. 
On  October  2,  1700,  Charles  signed  the  testament  by 
which  he  assumed  to  dispose  of  the  fate  of  provinces 
and  countries,  of  the  names  and  existence  of  many  of 
which  he  was  probably  ignorant.  "  God  alone  gives 
away  kingdoms,  for  to  Him  they  belong.  I  am  no 
longer  anything,"  said  the  miserable  man,  as  he  set 
his  hand  to  the  document. 

The  will  is  interesting  as  a  picture  of  the  intellec- 
tual condition  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  as  well  as  for 
the  disposition  made  of  the  vast  heritage.  He  bade 
his  successor  to  be  constant  to  the  faith,  to  honor  the 
Inquisition,  to  prefer  always  the  interests  of  religion 
to  those  of  the  state,  and  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
obtain  the  adoption  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception.  He  then  directed  that  one  hundred  thou- 
sand masses  should  be  said  for  his  own  soul.  Should 
these  prove  more  than  were  required  to  release  it  from 
purgatory,  the  residue  were  to  be  applied  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  souls  of  his  ancestors  who  were  suffering 
there ;  and  if  any  masses  still  remained  unused,  they 
should  apply  to  the  advantage  of  those  souls  in  purga- 
tory who  were  in  for  the  longest  term.  In  addition 
to  this,  he  recommended  his  spiritual  welfare  to  the 

cent,  but  by  Porto  Carrero.  The  criticisms  on  the  authenticity 
of  Innocent's  letter  by  recent  German  writers  throw  no  doubt 
upon  the  fact  that  a  committee  of  cardinals  expressed  themselves 
in  favor  of  the  French  claim  ;  that  their  views  were  adopted  by 
the  Pope,  and  his  opinion  in  some  form  was  transmitted  to 
Charles. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  263 

special  charge  of  a  great  number  of  saints,  and  then 
proceeded  to  dispose  of  his  earthly  kingdoms.  The 
Duke  of  Anjou,  second  son  of  the  dauphin  of  France, 
was  named  as  the  heir  to  the  entire  Spanish  Succession. 
Should  he  refuse  to  accept  it,  his  younger  brother  was 
next  named,  and  after  him  the  Archduke  of  Austria, 
on  condition,  however,  that  the  throne  of  Spain  should 
never  be  occupied  by  any  one  who  was  either  emperor, 
or  king  of  France.  Charles  then  directed  that  the 
states  composing  the  Spanish  empire  should  forever 
remain  united,  and  asked  that  the  burdens  imposed 
upon  the  people  might  be  lightened,  and  that  his  suc- 
cessors would  govern  with  wisdom.  These  requests 
unhappily  were  not  destined  to  be  answered.^ 

It  has  been  usually  supposed  that  the  will  was  kept 
secret  until  Charles's  death,  and  that  Louis's  decision 
to  accept  its  provisions  was  reached  after  the  confer- 
ences which  he  then  held  with  his  ministers  and  Mme. 
de  Maintenon.  This  is  not  the  fact,  and  those  solemn 
consultations  were  probably  much  less  momentous  than 
they  seemed.  In  the  summer  of  1700,  Porto  Carrero 
had  endeavored  to  obtain  from  Louis  some  assurance 
that  if  his  grandson  were  declared  heir  to  the  Spanish 
throne  he  would  be  allowed  to  accept  the  inheritance. 
To  this  Louis  replied  that  it  would  be  time  enough  to 
decide  the  question  when  the  Spanish  king  made  a 
will  to  that  effect.^  He  could  not  well  answer  other- 
wise. If  he  absolutely  refused  to  accept,  Charles 
would  probably  be  made  to  sign  a  will  in  favor  of  the 
archduke,  and  the  Emperor  would  certainly  decline  to 
surrender  anything  unless  compelled  by  force  of  arms. 
Louis  continued  his  preparations  to  carry  out  the  par- 

1  The  will  is  published  in  Corps  Dip.,  t.  viii. 

2  Louis  to  Bl^court,  August  23,  1700. 


264         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

tition,  and  told  his  representative  to  make  no  endeav- 
ors to  obtain  a  will  in  favor  of  his  grandson.^  Not- 
withstanding this,  the  will  was  signed.  The  French 
envoy  was  soon  informed  of  its  purport,  and  he  at 
once  reported  to  his  master  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
had  been  chosen  heir  to  the  entire  SjDanish  monarchy .^ 
Charles  was  not  dead  when  this  great  intelligence 
reached  Versailles.  He  might  annul  the  will  as  he 
had  annulled  prior  ones,  but  the  question  of  its  ac- 
ceptance was  at  once  considered. 

Louis  was  dazzled  by  the  sudden  vision  of  glory 
that  was  revealed.  All  his  life  he  had  been  scheming 
and  fighting  to  obtain  some  portion  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession, and  now  the  whole  was  freely  offered.  His 
grandson  might  be  king  of  Castile,  Aragon,  and  the  two 
Sicilies,  lord  of  Peru,  Mexico,  and  the  West  Indies, 
Archduke  of  Milan  and  Count  of  Flanders.  The 
great  thrones  of  the  world  would  be  filled  by  Louis's 
posterity.  Spanish  grandees  would  bow  before  his  de- 
scendants at  Madrid,  as  would  French  dukes  at  Ver- 
sailles. His  offspring,  united  in  action,  ruling  power- 
ful kingdoms  in  Europe  and  America,  would  dictate 
the  policy  of  the  world  ;  their  power  and  glory  would 
perpetuate  the  fame  of  their  great  ancestor.  These 
visions,  however  alluring,  did  not  at  once  overthrow  the 
dictates  of  good  faith  and  good  judgment.  The  king 
conferred  with  Tallard  his  minister  in  the  negotiations 
for  the  partition,  Torcy  his  secretary  for  foreign  affairs, 
and  Mme.  de  Maintenon.  Both  Torcy  and  Tallard 
agreed  that  the  acceptance  of  the  will  would  surely 
involve  France  in  a  war,  the  results  of  which  could 

1  Louis  to  Bl^court,  August  30,  1 700.  "  Vous  ne  devez  f aire 
aucune  d-marche  pour  I'obtenir,  la  sincerity  du  roi  d'Angleterre 
et  des  Etats  Gdn^raux  paraissant  dans  toute  leur  conduite." 

2  Bldcourtto  Louis,  October  7,  1700. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  265 

not  be  foreseen.  Louis  was  so  far  affected  by  their 
views  that  he  said  he  would  send  a  courier  to  Holland 
and  announce  his  adherence  to  the  treaty  of  partition.^ 
But  several  days  passed  before  Charles's  death  was 
known,  and  before  a  final  and  irrevocable  decision 
could  be  given.  The  correspondence  of  Louis  shows 
plainly  enough  that  he  was  aware  that  for  France  the 
advantages  of  the  partition  were  greater  than  any 
which  she  could  derive  from  a  Bourbon  prince  filling 
the  Spanish  throne.^  To  accept  the  will  was  in  all 
probability  to  involve  the  country  in  a  great  and  an  un- 
certain war,  not  for  her  own  protection  or  aggrandize- 
ment, but  in  behalf  of  his  dynasty  ;  not  that  France 
might  be  greater,  but  that  the  family  of  Louis  XIV. 
might  be  more  illustrious.  Such  arguments  had  no 
weight  with  the  most  of  those  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded. Almost  without  exception,  his  family  and 
his  courtiers  were  in  favor  of  accepting  the  will  of 
Charles  II.,  and  doubtless  their  views  had  a  large 
influence  on  the  final  decision.  They  declared  that 
France  and  Spain  united  could  look  with  indifference 
on  the  hostility  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  that  to 

1  Mem.  de  Tallard,  November,  1700. 

2  There  are  numerous  instances  of  this  in  his  correspondence 
with  Philip.  The  correspondence  with  Harcourt,  the  French 
ambassador  at  Madrid,  shows  the  evil  and  mistaken  advice  which 
Louis  constantly  received.  Harcourt  was  one  of  the  ablest  of 
the  great  nobles  of  France.  When  we  see  the  folly  of  his  coun- 
sels, we  feel  that  it  was  of  great  advantage  to  the  development 
of  that  kingdom  during  the  seventeenth  century  that  a  nobility 
bereft  of  political  wisdom  was,  to  a  large  extent,  excluded  from 
any  voice  in  the  state.  We  have  many  contemporary  French 
memoirs  at  this  period.  From  the  Marquis  of  Dangeau,  who 
only  professed  to  be  a  courtier,  to  the  Duke  of  St.  Simon,  who 
thought  that  he  was  a  statesman,  all  are  characterized  by  the 
lack  of  any  political  capacity  and  of  any  intelligent  appreciation 
of  public  questions. 


266         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

have  a  Bourbon  on  the  Spanish  throne  was  more  glo- 
rious than  any  acquisitions  of  territory.  On  this  oc- 
casion, as  on  many  others,  Louis  allowed  his  own 
better  judgment  to  be  controlled  by  those  who  were 
not  blessed  with  political  wisdom. 

On  November  9,  the  news  of  Charles's  death  reached 
Versailles,  and  on  the  11th,  the  Spanish  crown  was 
formally  tendered  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  The  po- 
sition certainly  was  not  free  from  embarrassment.  No 
one  seems  to  have  attached  much  importance  to  the 
fact  that  the  king  had  solemnly  agreed  to  a  different 
disposition.  Louis  felt  that  the  offer  of  the  throne 
had  come  without  solicitation  or  interference  on  his 
part,  and  therefore  he  was  at  liberty  to  accept  it.  Had 
the  Emperor  joined  in  the  treaty  of  partition  it  would 
have  been  carried  out,  for  Louis  was  sincere  in  wish- 
ing for  peace.  But  the  advocates  of  the  Duke  of 
Anjou  now  loudly  said  that  war  was  certain  in  any 
event ;  if  Louis  refused  to  accept  the  throne  for  his 
grandson,  the  archduke  by  the  terms  of  the  will 
would  become  king  of  Spain,  with  her  people  resolved 
to  support  the  integrity  of  the  monarchy ;  it  was  not 
likely  that  England  and  Holland  would  go  to  war 
against  the  Emperor,  who  had  always  been  their 
friend,  to  help  conquer  provinces  for  Louis  XIV., 
who  had  always  been  their  enemy.  France  would  be 
left  to  contend  alone  for  the  rights  secured  to  her  by 
the  treaty  of  partition.  As  long  as  it  was  necessary 
to  fight,  it  was  better  to  fight  for  the  whole  than  to  fight 
for  a  part.  The  king  decided  in  favor  of  the  policy 
which  accorded  with  his  desires,  and  which  he  easily 
brought  himself  to  believe  accorded  with  his  judgment.^ 

1  The  authorities  as  to  the  partition  treaties,  the  intrigues  in 
Spain,  the  will  of  Charles  II.,  and  the  subsequent  conduct  of 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  267 

On  the  16th  of  November,  the  Spanish  ambassa- 
dor attended  the  levee  of  the  king,  and  was  told  that 
he  might  salute  the  Duke  of  Anjou  as  his  sovereign. 
Immediately  afterward  the  great  doors  were  thrown 
open,  and  as  the  crowd  of  officials  and  courtiers  poured 
in,  Louis  said  to  them :  "  Gentlemen,  behold  the  king 
of  Spain.  His  birth  entitles  him  to  the  throne,  the 
nation  desires  him,  and  I  have  acceded  to  their  re- 
quest. It  is  the  will  of  Heaven."  It  was  announced 
that  on  December  1st  Philip  would  depart  for  his  new 
kingdom.  "  The  journey  will  now  be  an  easy  one," 
said  the  Spanish  minister,  "  for  the  Pyrenees  no  longer 
exist."  ^  The  young  sovereign  at  once  received  the 
honors  to  which  his  rank  entitled  him.  He  stood  at 
Louis's  right  hand  ;  his  grandfather  treated  him  with 
the  same  exact  punctilio  that  he  would  have  shown 
to  any  foreign  sovereign.  The  few  days  in  which  he 
could  entertain  his  own  grandson  as  king  of  Spain  — 
the  possessor  of  the  vast  heritage  which  for  almost 
half  a  century  he  had  coveted  for  his  posterity  — 
were  doubtless  the  proudest  of  Louis's  long  reign. 
He  wept  for  joy.     To  the  ambassador  he  said,  with 

Louis,  are  to  be  found  in  the  correspondence  between  him  and 
Tallard,  Villars,  Harcourt,  and  Bldcourt  ;  also  in  the  Memoires 
de  Torcy  and  the  correspondence  between  William  III.  and 
Portland,  Heinsius,  and  the  English  minister  at  Paris. 

1  Mem.  de  Dangeau,  vii.  419.  The  famous  remark,  "  the 
Pyrenees  no  longer  exist,"  was  first  attributed  to  Louis  XIV.  by- 
Voltaire.  It  is  not  the  only  instance  where  the  great  writer  has 
given  the  great  monarch  credit  for  sayings  and  actions  which 
were  not  his.  The  proceedings  when  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was 
declared  king  of  Spain,  and  the  remarks  of  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador, are  given  by  Dangeau,  who  was  an  eyewitness,  with  admi- 
rable accuracy  and  tiresome  minuteness.  The  remark  of  the 
ambassador  about  the  Pyrenees  is  also  reported  in  the  Mercure, 
the  official  journal. 


268         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

an  effusion  such  as  his  majestic  dignity  rarely  allowed 
him  to  exhibit,  "  I  still  feel  that  this  is  all  a  dream."  ^ 
The  intelligence  that  Charles  had  chosen  the  Duke 
of  Anjou  for  his  successor,  and  that  Louis  had  ac- 
cepted the  heritage,  was  received  with  profound  emo- 
tion by  the  nations  of  Europe.  All  the  plans  which 
had  been  laid  to  prevent  the  union  of  two  great  mon- 
archies in  the  house  of  Bourbon  were  brought  to  naught. 
At  Vienna,  where  the  Emperor  had  been  living  in  a 
fool's  paradise,  and  had  lost  the  chance  of  getting 
much  in  the  hope  of  getting  all,  the  irritation  was 
extreme.^  Leopold  at  once  decided  upon  war,  and 
his  troops,  entered  Italy  in  1701.  William  III.  was 
equally  alarmed  at  seeing  a  Bourbon  prince  peace- 
fully established  at  Madrid.  His  apprehensions  as  to 
the  evils  which  would  result  to  Europe  were  undoubt- 
edly exaggerated.  If  the  will  of  Charles  was  carried 
into  effect,  he  declared  that  England  and  Holland 
would  be  in  the  utmost  danger  of  total  ruin.^  The 
result  showed  how  imaginary  was  this  peril.  France 
was  indeed  weakened  and  Spain  dismembered  by  the 
war  which  ensued,  but  even  if  Philip  had  been  left  to 
enjoy  in  peace  the  entire  Spanish  inheritance,  neither 
the  liberties  nor  the  prosperity  of  England  and  the 
United  Provinces  would  have  been  endangered.  Wil- 
liam's mistake  was  that  of  his  contemporaries,  when 
they  believed  that  if  the  sovereigns  of  France  and 
Spain  were  united  in  blood  they  would  necessarily  be 

1  Dangeau,  vii.  421  ;  Sourches,  vi.  308. 

2  The  Austrian  ambassador  wrote  Leopold  after  Charles  had 
executed  his  last  will,  advised  him  of  the  fact,  and  was  confident 
that  an  Austrian  prince  had  been  chosen  as  successor  to  the 
throne.  The  representatives  of  the  Emperor  were  generally  as 
ill-informed  as  those  of  Louis  were  well-informed. 

8  William  to  Heinsius,  November  16,  1700. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  269 

united  in  policy.  The  history  of  those  countries  shows 
how  unimportant  are  the  ties  of  kith  and  kin.  Louis 
XIII.  of  France  was  the  brother-in-law  of  Philip  IV. 
of  Spain,  and  he  was  always  fighting  with  him.  Anne 
of  Austria  was  Philip's  sister,  and  she  carried  on  war 
against  him  for  sixteen  years.  Louis  XIV.  was  bro- 
ther-in-law of  Charles  II.,  and.  his  chief  occupation 
was  depriving  his  relation  of  his  possessions.  Louis 
XV.  was  the  nephew  of  Philip  V.,  and,  four  years 
after  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  France  was  engaged  in  war 
with  Spain.  The  relationship  between  the  kings  of 
Spain  and  France  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  no 
closer  than  it  had  been  in  the  seventeenth,  and  it  had 
as  little  influence  upon  their  policy. 

With  better  ground,  William  felt  indignant  at 
Louis's  bad  faith,  and  was  apprehensive  of  the  pur- 
poses of  a  monarch  who  violated  his  agreements  with 
unconcern.  "  We  are  dupes,"  he  wrote  bitterly ;  "  but 
if  one's  word  and  faith  are  not  to  be  kept,  it  is  easy 
to  cheat  any  man." 

In  England,  however,  the  partition  treaty  had  been 
unpopular,  and  Louis's  violation  of  it  excited  little  in- 
dignation. It  was  generally  believed  that  a  Bourbon 
prince  ruling  in  Spain  would  be  less  injurious  to 
English  interests  than  a  French  king  ruling  in  Sicily 
and  Naples.  Without  England,  Holland  would  take 
no  action,  and  the  Emperor  alone  could  do  nothing. 
If  Louis  had  proceeded  with  wisdom  and  moderation, 
it  is  probable  that  he  would  have  preserved  the  Span- 
ish monarchy  for  his  grandson  intact ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  by  reasonable  concessions  he  could  have  saved 
France  from  a  disastrous  w^ar,  and  his  own  fame  from 
the  defeats  and  misfortunes  of  his  later  years. 

Moderation  in  the  hour  of  prosperity  was  a  quality 


270         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

which  he  manifested  as  little  as  did  his  adversaries. 
An  edict  was  registered  declaring  that  Philip  and  his 
descendants  should  forfeit  none  of  their  rights  as  heirs 
to  the  French  throne,  and  thus  the  probability  of  the 
union  of  the  two  countries  under  one  king  was  osten- 
tatiously proclaimed.  This  had  been  forbidden  by 
the  will,  by  virtue  of  which  the  Duke  of  Anjou  be- 
came king  of  Spain,  but  Louis  saw  fit  to  accept  the 
inheritance  and  disregard  the  limitation.  The  for- 
tresses of  the  Spanish  Lowlands  had  been  garrisoned 
by  Dutch  troops.  They  were  promptly  expelled,  and 
their  place  was  taken  by  French  soldiers.  Such  a 
change  did  no  one  any  harm,  but  the  English  and 
Dutch  saw  in  it  the  first  step  towards  the  annexation 
of  Flanders  by  France.  Louis  told  them  that  he 
harbored  no  such  purpose,  and  that  they  could  ask  no 
better  security  than  his  royal  word.  Unfortunately 
his  promise  was  no  longer  received  as  current  coin. 
It  is  unlikely  that  the  king  would  have  appropriated 
any  of  his  grandson's  possessions,  but  he  had  broken 
faith  so  often  that  no  one  would  believe  him  when  he 
told  the  truth.  Kings  who  do  not  keep  their  word, 
like  debtors  who  do  not  meet  their  obligations,  are 
embarrassed  at  last  by  the  fact  that  they  can  get  no 
further  credit. 

The  Dutch  proposed  terms  of  settlement.  They 
were  probably  more  than  they  had  a  right  to  ask  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  though  they  were  less  than 
they  obtained  at  the  end.  Louis  would  concede  no- 
thing. Doubtless  the  Spanish  had  chosen  Philip  as 
their  king  in  the  hope  of  thus  preserving  all  their  pos- 
sessions, but  that  was  no  justification  for  Louis's  po- 
sition. It  was  France  that  must  bear  the  burden  of  a 
war  undertaken  in  order  to  gratify  the  stolid  pride  of 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  271 

Spain.  Louis  declared  that  to  surrender  any  of  the 
rights  of  his  grandson  would  be  an  act  unbecoming 
his  dignity,  but  surely  his  dignity  did  not  require  that 
he  should  wait  until  his  armies  were  routed,  his  people 
were  bankrupt,  and  his  capital  was  in  danger,  before 
he  made  concessions. 

On  September  7,  1701,  William,  the  Emperor,  and 
the  States  General  formed  an  alliance  by  which  they 
agreed  to  secure  for  Austria  the  Italian  possessions  of 
Spain,  to  obtain  a  barrier  for  the  Dutch  in  the  Span- 
ish Low  Countries,  and  commercial  advantages  for 
England  and  Holland.  To  a  very  large  extent,  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht  procured  for  the  allies  the  objects 
which  they  originally  had  in  view.  It  was  not  cer- 
tain, however,  that  this  alliance  would  take  vigorous 
measures  to  secure  its  ends.  The  English  were  not 
as  eager  for  war  as  their  king,  and  without  the  hearty 
assistance  of  England  the  Emperor  would  have  cov- 
eted Milan  in  vain,  and  the  Dutch  have  sighed  for  a 
barrier  to  no  purpose.  A  few  days  later  James  II. 
died,  and  when  his  son  was  recognized  by  Louis  as 
the  king  of  England,  the  English  nation  was  at  last 
ready  to  embark  with  enthusiasm  on  ten  years  of  war 
against  France. 

It  is  difficult  to  speak  with  patience  of  this  act  of 
folly  on  Louis's  part.  The  crimes  of  ambition,  the 
mistakes  of  policy,  have  at  least  a  motive,  even  if 
it  is  not  a  sufficient  one.  To  violate  the  terms  of  a 
treaty,  to  affront  another  nation  at  a  most  critical 
period,  to  risk  the  results  of  forty  years  of  diplomacy, 
in  order  to  indulge  in  a  display  of  empty  politeness, 
and  to  excite  the  applause  of  the  courtiers  of  Ver- 
sailles, seems  like  suicidal  folly.  It  may  have  been 
good  manners,  but   it   was  very  bad  statesmanship. 


272    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Surely  France  would  have  fared  better  if  her  sover- 
eign had  been  endowed  with  the  churlish  incivility  of 
William  III.,  instead  of  the  magnificent  courtesy  of 
Louis  XIV.  It  may  be  said  in  Louis's  behalf  that 
Mme.  de  Maintenon,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  all 
save  a  few  of  the  king's  advisers  insisted  that  the 
only  course  fitting  a  great  and  a  pious  monarch  was  to 
recognize  the  Pretender.  When  the  English  remon- 
strated against  having  a  Catholic  sovereign  selected 
for  them  by  a  French  king,  their  addresses  were  de- 
clared by  his  courtiers  to  be  exceedingly  insolent.^ 

The  languid  contest  of  1701  became  by  the  next 
year  a  great  war,  in  which  Portugal,  Savoy,  and  the 
most  of  Germany  joined  the  allies.  Very  nearly  the 
same  alliance  had  been  formed  in  1689,  and  Spain 
had  also  been  a  member  of  it.  It  had  then  contended 
with  difiiculty  against  France  alone,  but  such  was  not 
the  case  now.  France  was  better  off  with  the  Spanish 
for  enemies  than  as  allies.  She  had  not  only  to  pro- 
tect her  own  boundaries,  but  to  send  armies  to  Italy 
and  to  Spain,  in  the  endeavor  to  preserve  the  ex- 
tended and  the  helpless  possessions  of  Philip  V. 

During  the  three  years  which  followed  the  first  in- 
vasion of  Italy  by  Austria,  the  results  of  the  war  were 
evenly  balanced.  France  held  her  own,  and  her  ar- 
mies threatened  the  Emperor  in  Vienna.  The  battle 
of  Blenheim  in  1704  turned  the  tide,  which  from  that 
fatal  day  ran  steadily  against  Louis  XIV. 

For  a  century  the  French  had  been  so  accustomed 
to  success  that  the  report  of  a  defeat,  where  a  French 
marshal  in  command  had  been  captured  and  11,000 
of  his  men  had  laid  down  their  arms  on  the  field,  was 
not  credited.^      From  the  day  when  Francis  I.  was 

^  Mem.  de  Sourches,  vii.  141. 

2  Lettres  inedites  de  la  Princesse  Palatine,  August  21,  1704. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  273 

made  prisoner  on  the  field  at  Pa  via,  almost  two  cen- 
turies before,  the  armies  of  France  had  met  with  no 
such  disaster.  When  the  news  was  confirmed,  the 
consternation  at  Paris  and  Versailles  was  universal. 
One  man  alone  gave  no  outward  mark  of  concern, 
and  he  was  the  king.  During  the  eight  years  of  de- 
feat and  disaster  which  ensued,  Louis's  face  and 
manner  were  always  characterized  by  the  same  calm 
dignity,  the  same  perfect  equanimity,  as  in  his  most 
prosperous  days.  Mme.  de  Maintenon  alone  saw  the 
marks  of  distress  which  he  concealed  from  the  world. 
It  was  not  that  the  king  was  insensible  to  these  disas- 
ters. He  was  a  proud  man,  and  his  pride  was  cut  to 
the  quick  as  his  early  conquests  were  taken  from  him, 
and  he  was  forced  to  humble  himself  in  the  dust  be- 
fore enemies  whom  he  had  despised.  But  he  pos- 
sessed the  fortitude  which  can  bear  mental  distress 
and  give  no  outward  sign.^ 

The  progress  of  the  allied  armies,  though  often 
checked  by  discord  and  injudicious  counsels,  was 
steady.  In  1706,  the  battle  of  Ramillies  was  followed 
by  the  capture  of  most  of  the  Spanish  Flanders. 
Prince  Eugene  drove  the  French  out  of  Italy,  and 
the  southern  provinces  of  France  became  the  field  of 
battle.  In  the  north,  the  successes  of  Marlborough 
forced  the  armies  of  Louis  within  the  boundaries  of 
France.  Alsace,  French  Flanders,  and  Artois  were 
invaded  by  the  enemy.  The  defeat  of  Oudenarde  in 
1708   was  followed  by  the  defeat  of  Malplaquet  in 

^  Frequent  references  to  Louis's  external  calmness,  and  the 
pain  which  he  suffered  from  these  disasters,  can  be  found  in  the 
correspondence  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon.  The  unbroken  tran- 
quillity of  his  manner  during  all  these  years  is  referred  to  con- 
stantly by  all  who  had  occasion  to  see  him. 


274         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

1709,  and  early  in  the  next  year  the  archduke  for  the 
second  time  took  possession  of  Madrid.  Lille,  Ghent, 
Mons,  Bouchain,  and  most  of  the  important  frontier 
towns  were  taken  by  the  allies,  and  Marlborough  and 
Eugene  could  regard  the  capture  of  Paris  as  by  no 
means  impossible.    * 

Many  reasons  can  be  given  for  this  series  of  dis- 
asters, which  has -no  parallel  in  French  history,  from 
the  time  that  Orleans  was  saved  by  Joan  of  Arc 
until  the  time  that  Paris  was  lost  by  Napoleon.  The 
chief  cause  was  the  exhausted  condition  of  France. 
For  years  that  country  had  been  growing  poorer,  and 
her  financial  ruin  was  completed  by  the  war.  Her  ex- 
ports had  long  been  diminishing.  The  burden  of  taxa- 
tion, aggravated  by  artificial  restraints  on  trade,  had 
brought  internal  commerce  almost  to  a  standstill.  It 
was  possible  to  obtain  men  enough  for  the  armies  which 
Louis  maintained  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Po,  in  Flan- 
ders, Spain,  and  Savoy ;  but  to  give  them  regular  pay, 
and  sufficient  food  and  clothing,  would  have  been 
beyond  the  power  even  of  Colbert  and  Louvois.  No 
such  ministers,  moreover,  were  now  found  among  the 
advisers  of  the  king.  The  intellectual  sterility  which 
characterized  the  close  of  his  reign  manifested  itself  in 
the  council  chamber,  as  well  as  in  the  study  and  on  the 
field.  Louis  disliked  to  see  new  faces  about  him,  and 
still  more  did  he  dislike  any  suggestion  of  new  mea- 
sures. The  secretaryships  of  war  and  finance,  either 
of  which  required  the  entire  time  of  a  man  of  genius, 
were  united  in  Chamillart,  who  had  attracted  the 
king's  favor  by  his  amiable  qualities,  and  who,  it  was 
vainly  hoped,  would  imbibe  omniscience  from  the 
atmosphere  of  Versailles.  He  did  all  that  was  in  the 
power  of  a  well-meaning,  obstinate,  and  stupid  man 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  275 

to  bring  disaster  upon  his  country.  The  most  errone- 
ous of  ancient  financial  devices  were  employed.  The 
taxes  that  could  be  collected  were  not  sufficient  to  pay 
over  one  third  of  the  current  expenses.  In  1709,  a 
winter  of  uncommon  severity  and  a  failure  of  the 
crops  increased  the  general  misery.  There  was  no 
money ;  the  shops  were  empty  ;  the  cold  was  more 
rigorous  than  had  been  experienced  within  the  memory 
of  man.^  Cries  of  distress  were  raised  against  the 
king,  whose  omnipotence  had  so  long  been  unques- 
tioned. Not  only  in  the  provinces,  but  at  Versailles, 
complaints  against  the  government  were  uttered  with- 
out restraint ;  they  reached  the  ear  of  the  king,  and 
he  felt  bound  to  respect  them.  Chamillart  was  dis- 
missed, —  the  only  one  of  his  ministers  whom  Louis 
ever  sacrificed  to  public  clamor.  Enormous  as  the 
expenses  of  the  court  had  long  been,  no  one  had  pre- 
sumed to  criticise  them,  but  in  the  hour  of  disaster 
the  reverence  for  any  institution  abates.  There  were 
many  now  who  dared  to  say  that,  when  soldiers  could 
have  no  shoes,  the  splendors  of  Versailles  were  in  bad 
taste.  Nothing  was  so  painful  to  Louis  as  economy. 
When  his  fortunes  looked  the  darkest,  he  told  one  of 
his  marshals  that  he  would  perish  with  his  army 
rather  than  fly  from  his  capital.  To  die  heroically 
would  have  been  easier  for  him  than  to  retrench  the 
magnificence  which  had  become  part  of  his  existence. 
To  wait  death  like  a  Eoman  senator  was  one  thing, 
but  to  scrimp  like  a  Parisian  shopkeeper  was  another. 
Still  he  did  what  he  could.  The  new  buildings,  which 
had  been  his  chief  delight,  were  carried  no  further ; 
the  hospitalities  of  Marly  were  curtailed.^ 

^  Journal  de  Torcy,  December,  1709. 

2  The  letters  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  in  1709  describe  graph- 
ically the  gloom  and  despondency  of  the  king  and  the  court 


276         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Thougli  desertion  and  disease  thinned  their  ranks, 
the  French  soldiers  fought  with  the  gallantry  which 
has  always  been  their  characteristic.  They  had,  how- 
ever, neither  Louvois  to  supply  them,  nor  Turenne 
nor  Luxembourg  to  command  them.  Louis  and  Mme. 
de  Maintenon  were  partial  to  those  who  understood 
the  art  of  pleasing  better  than  the  art  of  fighting. 
Villeroy  was  given  important  commands,  until  his  in- 
competency lost  the  battle  of  Ramillies  and  the  most 
of  Flanders.  The  endeavor  to  direct  the  movements 
of  the  armies  from  Versailles  led  to  fatal  delays,  to 
hesitation  on  the  part  of  generals,  to  mistakes  in  the 
orders  when  they  at  last  arrived.  Notwithstanding  the 
enfeebled  condition  of  the  French  soldiers,  they  were  so 
nearly  equal  to  their  enemies  that,  had  Marlborough 
led  them  at  Blenheim,  Ramillies,  and  Oudenarde,  and 
the  allies  been  under  the  command  of  Tallard,  Villeroy, 
and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  the  result  of  each  of  those 
great  battles  would  probably  have  been  different. 

The  constant  defeats  of  the  war,  the  increasing  dis- 
tress both  in  Paris  and  the  provinces,  showed  that 
France  was  being  ruined  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  Philip 
on  the  throne  of  Spain.  It  was  a  bitter  thing  for  Louis 
to  abandon  the  cherished  ambition  of  his  life,  but  he 
felt  that  he  must  not  endanger  his  kingdom  in  the 
interests  of  his  dynasty.  He  must  act  as  a  father  to 
his  people,  he  said,  and  for  their  preservation  abandon 
all  other  considerations.^  Nothing  in  his  career  is 
more  deserving  of  the  admiration  of  posterity  than 

1  Louis  to  Amelot,  June  24,  1709.  "  Comme  je  tiens  lieu  de 
pere  k  mes  sujets,  je  dois  pr^f^rablement  k  toute  autre  conside- 
ration songer  k  leur  conservation.  Elle  depend  de  la  paix,  et 
je  sais  que  je  ne  puis  parvenir  k  la  conclure  aussi  longtemps  que 
le  roi,  mon  petit  fils,  demeurera  maitre  de  TEspagne." 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  277 

the  promptness  with  which  he  offered  to  sacrifice  the 
aggrandizement  of  his  family,  rather  than  continue  a 
disastrous  war.  As  early  as  1705,  Louis  suggested 
terms  of  peace  which  were  more  liberal  than  his  op- 
ponents had  then  a  right  to  demand.  They  met  with 
no  response.  As  the  war  proceeded,  his  desire  for 
peace  grew  stronger.  The  concessions  which  he  was 
willing  to  make  are  as  surprising  as  the  folly  of  his 
enemies,  who  refused  to  accept  them.  It  is  not  worth 
while  to  trace  the  long  negotiations,  in  which  Louis 
constantly  offered  to  yield  more,  and  the  allies  con- 
stantly refused  peace  on  any  terms.  In  1709,  he  con- 
sented to  abandon  the  entire  Spanish  Succession,  and 
to  give  the  Dutch  any  barrier  that  they  saw  fit  to  de- 
mand. The  next  year  he  was  ready  to  surrender,  in 
addition,  Strasbourg  and  Alsace,  and  he  offered  to  con- 
tribute a  large  sum  in  money  to  assist  the  allies  in 
driving  his  own  grandson  out  of  Spain,  if  they  would 
concede  to  him  the  throne  of  Sicily  as  a  retreat  where 
he  might  still  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  calling  himself 
a  king.  Unless  Philip  at  once  accepted  the  provision 
thus  made  for  him,  he  should  forfeit  all,  and  every 
foot  of  the  possessions  of  Spain  might  be  given  to  the 
house  of  Austria. 

These  concessions  went  far  beyond  the  demands 
which  the  allies  had  made  when  the  war  began.  If 
William  III.  had  still  been  alive,  he  would  have  ac- 
cepted them  with  eagerness,  as  he  had  accepted  Louis's 
offers  at  Ryswick,  and  for  a  second  time  *  he  would 
have  left  the  Emperor  to  whine  in  solitary  selfishness. 
The  man  who  now  controlled  the  policy  of  England 
was  a  greater  general  than  William,  but  he  was  far 
inferior  to  him  in  statesmanship  as  well  as  in  patriot- 
ism.    The  Duke  of  Marlborough  filled  his  letters  to 


278  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

his  wife  with  his  desires  for  peace  and  a  tranquil 
mind,  but  he  insisted  on  refusing  the  terms  which 
Louis  offered,  only  because  he  yearned  for  the  power 
and  the  wealth  which  he  expected  from  a  continuation 
of  the  war.^  The  conduct  of  the  Emperor  was  more 
intelligible.  He  was  contributing  little  to  carry  on  a 
contest  of  which  he  was  to  receive  most  of  the  gains. 
He  was  willing  that  the  allies  should  continue  to  spend 
their  money  in  an  endeavor  to  obtain  for  his  family 
the  entire  succession  of  Spain.  His  was  the  simple 
policy  of  perfect  selfishness. 

As  to  the  Dutch,  the  situation  in  which  they  found 
themselves  turned  their  heads.  Their  little  republic 
seemed  to  be  the  arbitrator  of  Europe :  it  was  setting 
up  and  pulling  down  monarchs,  it  was  controlling  the 
destinies  of  kings  and  emperors.  The  United  Prov- 
inces did  not  show  themselves  equal  to  their  great 
position,  and  they  never  again  held  the  place  in  Euro- 
pean politics  which  they  now  occupied.  In  the  season 
of  his  great  prosperity  Louis  had  often  erred  from  ex- 
cessive pride,  and  had  lost  advantages  which  a  more 
prudent  policy  would  have  secured.  Never,  however, 
had  his  conduct  been  so  overbearing,  so  unreasonable, 
and  so  inj  udicious  as  that  of  the  Dutch  at  the  confer- 
ences of  the  Hague  and  Gertruydenberg.  Like  Louis, 
they  were  to  be  taught  the  wisdom  of  Mazarin's  fa- 
vorite maxim,  that  the  prudent  gamester  quits  when  a 
winner  and  makes  his  gains  sure. 

^  That  such  were  his  desires  seems  clear  when  we  examine  his 
conduct  in  connection  with  his  correspondence  with  Godolphin 
and  with  his  wife.  As  to  the  claim  of  his  biographer,  Coxe,  that 
the  duke  was  merely  a  passive  agent  in  carrying  out  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  English  cabinet,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  did  not 
allow  himself  to  remain  passive  when  the  policy  indicated  was 
contrary  to  his  own  interests  and  desires. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.    '  279 

It  cannot  properly  be  said  tbat  the  demands  of  the 
allies  upon  Louis  were  excessive  ;  they  would  agree  to 
no  terms  on  which  peace  could  be  made.  At  first  he 
was  required  to  assist  in  dethroning  his  grandson,  and 
later  he  was  told  that  he  must  undertake  that  task 
without  any  aid  from  them.  Louis  had  placed  Philip 
on  the  throne  of  Spain,  they  said,  and  it  was  for  Louis 
to  drive  him  from  it.  Even  should  the  French  king 
submit  to  terms  so  humiliating  and  so  odious,  he 
would  by  no  means  secure  peace  for  his  people.  He 
must  forthwith  surrender  to  the  allies  all  the  cities 
and  territories  which  they  were  to  receive,  but  for 
these  he  would  obtain  only  a  truce  of  two  months.  If 
during  that  time  he  had  not  expelled  Philip  from 
Spain,  war  against  France  would  be  at  once  resumed, 
and  Louis  would  have  gained  nothing  by  surrendering 
towns  and  fortresses  which  it  might  require  years  to 
capture.^  Such  proposals  were  merely  a  mockery. 
It  was  as  much  beyond  Louis's  power  to  expel  Philip 
from  Spain  within  two  months,  as  it  was  to  overrun 
Holland  or  capture  Vienna  in  the  same  time. 

The  conduct  of  the  young  king  of  Spain  towards 
his  grandfather  was  as  unsatisfactory  as  that  of  his 
enemies.  In  the  Duke  of  Anjou  the  Spanish  had  ob- 
tained a  sovereign  not  much  better  fitted  to  rule  over 
a  great  nation  than  the  imbecile  Charles  whom  he 
succeeded.  He  was  a  slow-witted,  sluggish,  indolent 
boy.  That  such  should  have  been  his  character  is 
not  surprising.  His  mother  a  Bavarian  princess,  his 
grandmother  the  daughter  of  Philip  IV.,  his  great- 
grandmother  the  daughter  of  Philip  III.,  were  all 
women  whose  intelligence  was  as  limited  as  their  pedi- 

^  For  these  negotiations  see  Memoires  de  Torcy,  who  repre- 
sented France  in  most  of  them,  and  also  Journal  de  Torcy » 


280  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

gree  was  illustrious.  The  Bourbon  kings,  like  many 
other  monarchs,  selected  their  wives  without  regard  to 
strength  of  mind  or  vigor  of  body,  and  their  poster- 
ity suffered.  The  scanty  intelligence  which  Philip  re- 
ceived from  nature  had  not  been  improved  by  educa- 
tion. "  The  king  of  Spain  is  little  educated,"  wrote 
his  grandfather,  "  less  even  than  befits  his  age."  ^  The 
consciousness  of  his  ignorance  increased  his  natural 
diffidence.  His  voice  was  so  thick  that  he  could  with 
difficulty  be  understood,  and  in  taciturnity  he  ex- 
celled the  nation  which  he  was  to  govern.  He  walked 
slowly,  his  manner  was  preternaturally  solemn,  his 
mouth  was  usually  open,  he  was  grave  and  dull  and 
docile.2 

When  he  had  reached  his  new  kingdom  he  bore 
himself  as  one  might  expect.  He  sat  moodily  at  the 
council  board,  thrust  into  his  pockets  unread  the  let- 
ters that  were  presented  to  him,  and  listened  in  gloomy 
silence.  When  the  session  was  ended,  he  often  threw 
himself  back  in  his  chair  and  wept.^  He  was  troubled 
with  vapors  and  melancholy ;  and  though  in  battle  he 
manifested  a  stolid  physical  courage,  he  was  in  con- 
stant apprehension  of  death.^  He  moped  and  lounged 
in  his  chamber,  attended  by  his  confessor  or  by  some 
favorite ;  in  the  seclusion  of  his  life  he  exceeded  his 
Spanish  predecessors.  A  king  who  could  not  govern 
others  must  himself  be  governed,  and  Philip's  ad- 
ministration was  conducted  by  the  wives  he  married, 
and  by  the  favorites  who  controlled  the  wives. 

He  first  married  a  girl  of  thirteen,  a  daughter  of 

1  Louis  to  Harcourt,  December  15, 1700. 

2  Lettres  inedites  de  la  Princesse  Palatine^  214,  219. 
8  Louville  to  1  orcy,  April  17,  30,  1701. 

*  Mem,  de  Noaillesy  119. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  281 

the  Duke  of  Savoy.  As  an  adviser  for  the  queen, 
Louis  chose  the  Princess  des  Ursins,  the  daughter  of 
a  French  duke  and  the  widow  of  an  Italian  prince. 
The  princess  had  already  reached  the  mature  age  of 
sixty-five,  and  seemed  a  safe  and  a  judicious  coun- 
sellor.^ She  soon  displayed  a  love  of  power  which 
heretofore  had  found  no  opportunity  for  its  exercise„ 
She  obtained  absolute  control  over  the  young  queen ; 
and  when  she  had  acquired  that,  Philip  was  only  her 
mouthpiece.  For  many  years  Mme.  des  Ursins  may 
properly  be  regarded  as  the  king  of  Spain.  While 
she  had  a  genius  for  the  intrigues  of  the  palace,  for 
preserving  her  influence  over  an  amiable  girl  and  a 
slow-witted  boy,  she  displayed  less  talent  in  the  more 
important  duties  of  a  ruler. 

No  sooner  had  the  war  begun  than  Louis  found 
that  the  entire  burden  of  it  was  cast  upon  France. 
In  Milan,  for  example,  sixty  thousand  soldiers  fur- 
nished by  France,  and  two  thousand  Spaniards,  were 
engaged  in  trying  to  save  that  province  for  Spain. 
While  they  contributed  so  little  in  men  or  money,  the 
Spanish  wished  to  furnish  all  the  officers  and  enjoy 
all  the  dignities :  the  French  could  do  the  work,  but 
they  must  give  the  orders.^  Louis  complained  bit- 
terly that  upon  his  kingdom  was  thrown  the  entire 
weight  of  a  war  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  Spain. ^ 
He  obtained  no  satisfaction.  The  Spanish  could  do 
little  and  would  do  nothing.     After  the  disasters  of 

^  The  year  in  which  Mme.  des  Ursins  was  born  is  not  accu= 
rately  known.     Some  accounts  make  her  seven  years  younger. 

2  Louville  to  Branvilliers,  July  20,  1702.  Louville  acted  as 
Philip's  adviser  in  this  campaign.  He  did  not  love  the  Span- 
iards, but  he  is  a  trustworthy  witness. 

^  Louis  to  Marsin,  October  31,  1702,  et  passim. 


282         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

1708,  Louis  desired  peace  on  any  terms,  and,  if  his 
grandson  would  abandon  Spain,  he  could  satisfy  the 
conditions  on  which  it  could  be  obtained.^  He  endeav- 
ored to  induce  his  grandson  to  resign  a  dignity  which 
he  believed  it  was  impossible  to  preserve.  "  This  war 
can  never  be  ended,"  he  wrote,  "  so  long  as  Philip 
remains  on  the  throne  of  Spain.  It  is  necessary  that 
he  should  recognize  this  sad  truth."  ^  But  Philip  re- 
plied that  he  would  never  abandon  the  throne,  where 
God  had  placed  him  and  his  people  wished  him.^ 
This  determination,  and  the  vigor  with  which  it  was 
asserted,  were  undoubtedly  due  to  Mme.  des  Ursins, 
who  held  the  purposes  of  the  king  of  Spain  in  the 
hollow  of  her  hand.  She  expressed  her  indignation 
that  Louis  should  abandon  the  grandson  whom  he 
had  put  upon  the  throne,  and  expose  him  to  the  sad 
and  despicable  lot  of  an  exiled  king ;  that  he  should 
doom  his  own  fiesh  and  blood  to  the  lamentable  exist- 
ence of  the  English  phantom  kings  at  St.  Germain.^ 
"  We  can  no  longer  sustain  you,"  answered  Mme. 
de  Maintenon  ; "  we  have  great  trouble  to  sustain  our- 
selves. Do  you  want  to  destroy  France  and  see  the 
English  at  Paris  ?  "  ^"^  To  this,  if  Mme.  des  Ursins 
had  replied  truthfully,  she  would  have  said  that  she 
preferred  seeing  the  English  at  Paris  to  being  herself 
expelled  from  Madrid. 

Thus  Louis  could  neither  induce  his  grandson  to 
abdicate,  nor  the  allies  to  make  peace.     He  issued  an 

1  Louis  to  Amelot,  June  14,  1709. 

2  Louis  to  Amelot,  June  26,  1709. 

8  Philip  to  Louis,  April  17, 1709,  and  correspondence  of  Ame- 
lot with  Louis  XIV. 

4  Mme.  des  Ursins  to  Chamillart,  May  21,  1706  ;  Letters  for 

1709,  passim. 

^  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  June  17,  September  29,  1709. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  283 

appeal  to  his  subjects,  the  only  time  during  his  reign, 
and  the  struggle  went  on.  France  seemed  to  have 
reached  a  state  where  she  could  neither  obtain  peace 
nor  carry  on  war.  The  generals  feared  lest  their 
armies  should  be  dissolved,  from  their  inability  to  feed 
them.^  The  news  of  an  engagement  was  awaited  with 
terrible  apprehension.  Tears  were  seen  on  every  face 
when  the  intelligence  came  of  the  surrender  of  Lille. 
There  were  seditions  even  at  Paris;  scurrilous  pla- 
cards were  found  attached  to  the  statues  of  Louis  the 
Great;  anonymous  letters  reproached  the  king  and 
Mme.  de  Maintenon  with  the  ruin  of  the  people.  She 
wrote  in  her  despair  :  "  Three  Catholic  kings  seem 
abandoned  by  Providence,  and  heresy  and  injustice 
triumph.  ...  To  exist  in  the  state  in  which  we  are 
now  is  not  to  live  at  all.  God  is  against  us,  and  we 
must  submit."  ^ 

Notwithstanding  years  of  defeat  and  the  calamities 
of  1709,  the  condition  would  have  been  less  critical 
had  it  not  been  for  financial  errors.  Chamillart  had 
tampered  with  the  currency,  and  had  put  in  circula- 
tion irredeemable  bills  of  the  government.  Deprecia- 
tion of  the  currency  produced  its  inevitable  results. 
Gold  and  silver  were  hoarded,  or  driven  from  the 
country.  The  lack  of  sufficient  specie  for  ordinary 
circulation  checked  every  branch  of  business.  Bank- 
ers failed  ;  the  notes  of  merchants  went  to  protest ; 
there  was  no  money  with  which  to  pay  the  taxes. 
The  king  sent  his  plate  to  the  mint  to  be  melted  down, 
and  his  example  was  followed  by  most  of  the  nobility. 

1  See  correspondence  of  Villars  with  Louis  and  Chamillart, 
and  Mem,  militaires  sur  la  guerre  de  la  Succession  d^Espagne, 
t.  ix.  and  x. 

2  Letters  of  August  19,  1708  ;  April  10,  1709. 


284         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

Edicts  were  issued  in  order  to  improve  the  situation, 
but  the  laws  of  trade  could  not  be  controlled  even 
by  an  absolute  monarch.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
the  depreciation  of  the  currency  did  more  injury  to 
France  than  the  victories  of  Marlborough,  and  that  it 
was  an  important  factor  in  the  desperate  condition  of 
that  country  in  1709.^  The  Dutch  claimed  that  they 
might  wisely  continue  the  war  when  they  could  raise 
money  at  five  per  cent.,  and  the  advances  which  the 
French  obtained  cost  them  twenty  per  cent.  By 
straining  every  nerve,  the  government  was  able  to 
get  through  the  year  ;  if  the  soldiers  were  ill-fed  and 
poorly  paid,  at  least  they  were  kept  in  the  field.  The 
financial  condition  somewhat  improved.  In  1710 
there  seemed  less  danger  that  the  armies  could  no 
longer  be  held  together,  or  that  the  administration 
would  be  brought  to  a  standstill. 

The  fortunes  of  war  also  began  to  change.  In  his 
desire  to  compel  Philip  to  abandon  his  throne,  Louis 
had  threatened  to  withdraw  the  French  troops.  "  I 
did  not  suppose,"  wrote  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  "that 
we  should  be  reduced  to  such  extremities  as  to  wish 
to  see  the  king  and  queen  of  Spain  dethroned."  ^ 
When  Louis  was  convinced  that  the  allies  would  grant 
no  terms  of  peace,  he  consented  to  send  aid  to  his 
grandson,  and  the  Duke  of  Vendome  assumed  com- 
mand of  Philip's  armies.  The  Archduke  Charles  had 
been  declared  king  of  Spain ;  his  forces  had  overrun 
a  large  part  of  the  country,  and  were  now  in  posses- 
sion of  the  capital.  When  the  condition  seemed  des- 
perate, the  Castilians  at  last  aroused  themselves  from 

1  Forbonnais,  Recherches,  etc.,  t.  ii.  ;  Correspondance  des  Con, 
Gen.,  1701-1708. 

2  Mme.  de  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  June  24,  1709. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION,  285 

their  habitual  lethargy.  Both  men  and  money  were 
freely  given,  and  the  archduke  was  obliged  to  aban- 
don Madrid.  In  two  brilliant  victories,  Vendome 
captured  Stanhope  and  the  English  troops,  and  de- 
feated the  army  of  the  archduke  at  Villa  Viciosa.  A 
few  thousand  demoralized  soldiers  retreated  into  Ca- 
talonia, and  by  the  end  of  December,  1710,  the  allies 
were  as  far  removed  from  the  conquest  of  Spain  as 
when  they  had  first  invaded  that  country  six  years 
before. 

A  long  series  of  calamities  had  destroyed  the  pro- 
verbial buoyancy  and  hopefulness  of  the  French,  and 
they  could  hardly  credit  the  news  of  these  successes. 
The  king  showed  again  the  pride  of  his  younger  days ; 
the  courtiers  welcomed  the  change  of  fortune  as  a  mira- 
cle ;  Mme.  de  Maintenon  sent  her  three  hundred  and 
thirty  maidens  at  St.  Cyr  to  their  prayers,  and  bade 
them  praise  God  for  the  victory.^  The  tide  had  now 
turned,  and  in  the  following  year  a  new  administration 
in  England  began  the  negotiations  which  resulted  in 
the  peace  of  Utrecht.  The  terms  of  that  treaty  were 
substantially  those  which  were  agreed  upon  in  the 
secret  conferences  between  the  representatives  of 
France  and  the  Tovy  ministers  who  now  controlled 
the  policy  of  Queen  Anne.  Philip  V.  was  recognized 
as  king  of  Spain  and  the  Indies  ;  Austria  received 
Milan,  Naples,  Sardinia,  and  the  Spanish  Low  Coun- 
tries ;  the  Duke  of  Savoy  obtained  Sicily  and  the  title 
of  a  king,  as  the  recompense  of  years  of  intrigues 
and  infidelities,  as  judicious  as  they  had  been  unscru- 
pulous. The  barrier  against  French  invasion,  which 
the  Dutch  had  so  earnestly  desired,  was  established. 
It  did  not  contain  all  the  fortresses  which  Louis 
1  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  December  22,  29,  1710. 


286  FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY. 

had  offered  in  1710,  but  it  was  sufficient  for  their 
protection. 

The  English  were  the  chief  gainers  by  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht.  There  was  no  reason  why  this  should  not 
have  been  the  case.  They  had  contributed  most  to 
the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war ;  they  secured 
for  their  allies  more  than  had  been  demanded  at  the 
outset.  To  carry  on  war  solely  to  benefit  one's  neigh- 
bor has  never  been  customary,  and  it  is  hard  to  see 
why  such  a  course  should  be  especially  praiseworthy. 
Gibraltar  and  Minorca  were  now  ceded  to  the  English 
by  Spain  ;  from  France  they  received  Newfoundland 
and  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory;  they  were  granted 
extensive  trade  privileges,  largely  at  the  expense  of  the 
French ;  they  obtained  for  a  period  of  thirty  years 
the  valuable  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade  of  the  West 
Indies.  Such  a  traffic  seems  odious  to  us,  but  the 
trade  in  negroes  was  regarded  then  as  the  trade  in 
cattle  is  now ;  it  was  a  commerce  of  which  any  nation 
would  gladly  have  the  monopoly,  and  the  legality  and 
morality  of  which  were  not  questioned  ;  no  one  was 
more  disturbed  by  the  idea  of  catching  and  selling 
negroes  than  of  catching  and  selling  steers.  Louis 
was  obliged  to  agree  that  Dunkirk  should  be  disman- 
tled, and  that  the  Pretender  should  be  expelled.  This 
was  painful  to  his  pride,  but  it  would  have  been  better 
for  his  interests  if  the  Stuarts  had  been  sent  away 
twenty  years  before. 

The  advantages  secured  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
are  the  first  of  the  gains  made  by  England  during 
the  eighteenth  century  which  established  her  position 
as  the  great  colonial  power.  The  concessions  which 
France  was  obliged  to  make  were  among  the  long 
series  of  errors  and  disasters  by  which  the  plans  of 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  287 

Richelieu  and  Colbert  were  brought  to  naught,  and 
French  influence  failed  to  be  of  large  importance  in 
the  colonization  of  the  world. 

The  peace  of  Utrecht  has  often  been  declared  a 
reproach  to  England,  and  to  the  English  statesmen 
who  were  responsible  for  it.  It  is  difficult  to  see  any 
ground  for  such  charges.  Undoubtedly  there  was 
much  in  the  manner  in  which  the  negotiations  were 
carried  on  that  was  undignified  and  inconsistent  with 
good  faith.  But  Harley  and  Bolingbroke  were  justi- 
fied alike  in  the  terms  to  which  they  agreed,  and  in 
undertaking  by  themselves  to  obtain  peace  for  Europe. 
There  was  no  reason  why  England  should  carry  on 
indefinitely  a  gigantic  war  without  any  adequate  ob- 
ject. To  ask  the  Dutch  to  join  in  the  negotiations  for 
peace  would  have  insured  their  failure.  As  for  the 
Emperor,  it  does  not  seem  that  wisdom  required  Eng- 
land to  continue  a  war  in  order  to  satisfy  the  ambition 
of  an  ally  who,  as  was  justly  said,  expected  every- 
thing and  did  nothing. 

Certainly  Louis,  in  order  to  obtain  peace,  would 
have  conceded  more  than  he  was  required  to  by  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht.  Mme.  de  Maintenon  declared  it 
to  be  a  miracle  that  established  Philip  on  the  throne 
of  Spain.^  It  does  not  follow  that  because  Louis 
would  have  surrendered  more,  it  would  have  been 
wise  for  the  English  to  insist  upon  his  doing  so.  The 
elder  brother  of  the  archduke  died  in  the  spring  of 
1711,  and  Charles  was  chosen  Emperor  in  his  place. 
If  the  balance  of  power  was  the  object  of  the  war, 
the  English  would  have  been  justified  in  fighting  to 
keep  Philip  on  the  throne  of  Spain,  instead  of  con- 
tinuing to  fight  in  order  to  secure  the  Spanish  mon- 
^  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  November  16, 1711,  ei  pas. 


288  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

arcliy  for  a  prince  who  was  also  Emperor.  There  was, 
indeed,  a  possibility  that  Philip  might  inherit  the 
throne  of  France.  Solemn  renunciations  of  his  rights 
were  signed  by  him  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  peace ; 
they  were  ratified  by  the  Cortes ;  they  were  registered 
with  the  Parliament  of  Paris;  they  were  executed 
with  the  same  formalities  as  Maria  Theresa's  renun- 
ciation of  the  Spanish  Succession,  and  they  would 
have  been  violated  with  the  same  unconcern.  Had 
Louis  XV.  died  when  a  child,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
Philip  would  have  become  king  of  France.  There  is 
as  little  doubt  that  the  throne  of  Spain  would  have 
been  given  to  a  younger  son,  in  the  same  manner  that 
the  dauphin  had  surrendered  his  rights  to  Philip. 
Such  would  have  been  the  desire  of  the  French ;  such 
would  have  been  the  demand  of  the  Spanish ;  such  had 
been  the  policy  laid  down  by  Louis  XIV.  On  the 
other  hand,  Charles,  who  wished  to  be  king  of  Spain, 
was  already  Emperor,  and  he  insisted  on  being  both. 
The  reestablishment  of  the  empire  of  Charles  V.  would 
have  been  an  extraordinary  conclusion  of  a  war  begun 
to  preserve  the  balance  of  power.  Marlborough  and 
the  Whigs  declared  that  the  safety  and  liberty  of 
Europe  would  be  in  danger,  if  Spain  and  the  West 
Indies  were  left  to  the  house  of  Bourbon.  How  mis- 
taken they  were  is  shown  by  subsequent  history. 
Bourbon  kings  ruled  in  Spain,  but  they  did  not  make 
France  dangerous  to  Europe  during  the  eighteenth 
century.  On  the  contrary,  she  was  a  much  less  for- 
midable power  than  she  had  been  during  the  century 
before.  The  Bourbon  kings  at  Madrid  made  wax 
and  made  peace  with  the  Bourbon  kings  at  Ver- 
sailles, precisely  as  they  would  have  done  if  there 
had  not  been  a  drop  of  common  blood  in  their  veins. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  289 

When  France  was  again  formidable  to  Europe,  the 
fact  that  a  descendant  of  Louis  XIV.  reigned  at 
Madrid  added  no  more  to  her  power  than  the  fact 
that  a  descendant  of  Mustapha  III.  was  reigning  at 
Constantinople. 

Holland  and  the  Emperor  were  unwilling  to  accept 
the  terms  to  which  the  English  had  agreed,  and  they 
continued  the  war  without  their  aid.  The  victory  of 
the  French  at  Denain  in  1712  secured  peace.  The 
engagement  was  not  one  of  any  magnitude ;  a  detach- 
ment of  Eugene's  army  was  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces ; 
but  the  results  were  most  important.  Eugene  was 
obliged  to  raise  the  siege  of  Landrecies ;  the  French 
captured  several  of  the  cities  which  they  had  lost ;  it 
was  evident  that  France  was  no  longer  as  exhausted  as 
she  had  appeared  in  1709,  and  discouragement  pre- 
vailed among  the  allies.  In  April,  1713,  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht  was  signed  by  all  the  hostile  powers  ex- 
cept the  Emperor.  Here,  as  frequently,  Austria  stood 
out  to  the  last,  and  gained  nothing  by  her  obstinacy. 
A  few  defeats  in  1713  forced  the  Emperor  to  make 
peace  in  the  next  year,  and  his  claims  upon  the  Span- 
ish throne,  though  not  formally  renounced,  were  prac- 
tically abandoned.^ 

Spain  was  among  the  last  to  join  in  a  treaty  which 
secured  to  her  tranquillity  and  the  sovereign  of  her 
choice.  This  delay  was  chiefly  due  to  the  vanity  of 
Mme.  des  Ursins.  It  was  with  reluctance  that  Philip 
agreed  to  the  required  concessions  and  renunciations, 
but  on  those  points  Louis  succeeded  in  convincing 
his  grandson  that  he  must  take  what  was  offered  to 
him,  or  fare  much  worse.  Mme.  des  Ursins  was  the 
more  easily  reconciled  because  she  obtained  from 
1  Actes  de  la  Paix  d* Utrecht. 


290         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Philip  the  promise  of  a  petty  principality,  to  be  carved 
out  of  the  Lowlands,  where  she  might  assume  the  dig- 
nity of  an  independent  sovereign.  The  allies  met  this 
proposal  with  contempt,  Mme.  de  Maintenon  warned 
her  friend  that  she  was  prolonging  the  war,  but  Philip 
would  make  no  peace  without  the  principality.^  Only 
after  long  delay  and  by  the  united  resolution  of  Louis 
XIV.  and  all  Europe,  was  the  obstinate  old  woman 
driven  to  abandon  her  dream.^  Then,  at  last,  she  al- 
lowed her  pupil  to  agree  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 
Her  extraordinary  tenure  of  power  was  soon  to  have 
a  dramatic  ending.  In  1714,  the  queen  of  Spain  died. 
The  king  had  been  a  most  uxorious  husband,  and  he 
lamented  his  wife's  death,  but  after  the  fashion  of 
royalty.  He  was  at  the  chase  when  the  funeral  cor- 
tege  passed,  in  which  the  remains  of  Marie  Louise 
of  Savoy  were  conveyed  to  the  Escurial.  The  king 
watched  it  until  out  of  sight,  and  then  proceeded  with 
the  hunt.^  Philip's  character  was  so  well  known  that 
all  recognized  the  necessity  of  providing  him  at  once 
with  another  wife.  Mme.  des  Ursins  was  a  woman  of 
almost  eighty,  but  she  still  possessed  some  of  the  at- 
tractions of  middle  age  and  all  of  the  vanities  of  youth. 
It  was  thought  not  impossible  that  she  might  decide 
upon  herself  as  a  proper  wife  for  Philip,  and  drive 
him  to  the  altar.  Such  a  possibility  excited  dismay 
at  the  court  of  Versailles.     It  is  said  that  she  caused 

1  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  August  7,  1713. 

2  Philip  refused  to  sign  the  treaty  with  Holland  because  that 
country  would  not  guarantee  a  sovereignty  to  the  Princess  des 
Ursins,  and  Louis  was  obliged  to  use  threats  to  compel  his 
grandson  to  join  in  it.  "Mon  intention,"  he  wrote,  "n'a  jamais 
6t6  de  faire  la  guerre  pour  elle."  —  Louis  to  Chateauneuf. 

8  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  x.  133.  **  Are  these  princes  made  like 
other  mortals  ?  "  asks  the  chronicler. 


THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION.  291 

Philip  to  be  sounded  upon  the  subject,  but  the  limit 
of  his  docility  had  been  reached,  and  he  replied  to  the 
suggestion  of  marriage,  "  Oh,  no,  not  that."  ^  At  all 
events,  she  abandoned  the  idea,  if  she  had  ever  enter- 
tained it,  and  she  selected  for  the  position  a  princess  of 
Parma.  She  thought  that  she  could  rely  on  the  grati- 
tude of  a  petty  princess  whom  she  thus  elevated  to  be 
a  great  queen,  and  she  was  doubtless  deceived  as  to 
her  character. 2  At  the  head  of  a  retinue  of  the  prin- 
cipal nobles  and  officials  of  the  kingdom,  she  pro- 
ceeded to  meet  her  new  mistress.  The  overthrow  of 
the  favorite  had  already  been  decided  upon,  either 
by  the  caprice  of  the  queen  or  from  the  advice  of 
others.  Mme.  des  Ursins  was  coldly  received,  and  she 
shortly  retired  to  confer  with  her  mistress.  Soon  the 
queen  rushed  out,  calling  her  officers  to  take  that 
woman  from  the  room  and  instantly  carry  her  out  of 
Spain.  Those  who  were  thus  addressed  hardly  dared 
to  lift  their  hands  against  the  person  whom  they 
had  long  regarded  as  their  real  sovereign.  She  was, 
however,  put  in  a  carriage  in  a  cold  winter's  night, 
with  no  opportunity  to  change  her  dress,  and  driven 
almost  without  food  or  rest,  by  day  or  night,  over 
roads  covered  with  snow,  until  the  boundaries  of  the 
kingdom  had  been  reached.  In  her  amazement  at 
such  conduct,  she  was  consoled  by  the  belief  that 
swift  couriers  would  soon  overtake  them  with  orders 
for  her  return  from  the  king  himself.  In  this  expec- 
tation, also,  she  was  deceived.    Elizabeth  Farnese  soon 

^  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  x.  154.  The  authority  is  not  beyond 
question  on  this  point. 

^  Before  the  princess  reached  Spain,  Mme.  des  Ursins  became 
apprehensive  as  to  the  character  of  her  new  mistress.  —  Daubigny 
to  Torcy,  December  17,  1714. 


292         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

reached  Philip,  and  it  needed  but  a  few  hours  to  es- 
tablish her  dominion  over  so  pliant  a  subject.  The 
king  announced  to  his  astonished  courtiers  that,  while 
Mme.  des  Ursins  had  rendered  great  services  to  the 
state,  she  had  failed  in  respect  to  her  mistress,  and 
from  that  day  her  name  was  heard  no  more  from  his 
royal  lips.^  He  was  truly  sorry  for  what  had  occurred, 
said  this  most  submissive  of  husbands,  but,  as  he 
wished  to  live  in  harmony  with  the  queen,  he  could 
not  show  any  resentment.^ 

The  new  queen  and  her  favorites  succeeded  to  the 
authority  which  Mme.  des  Ursins  had  so  long  and  so 
despotically  exercised.  She  was  almost  fourscore,  but 
unlike  her  rival,  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  she  did  not  seek 
retreat  from  worldly  greatness  in  the  religious  tran- 
quillity of  a  convent.  As  she  found  no  real  sover- 
eign with  whom  she  could  establish  herself,  she  took 
refuge  in  the  court  of  the  English  Pretender  at  Rome. 
There  she  exercised  a  large  control ;  her  time  was 
employed  in  plans  and  plots  for  imaginary  sovereigns  ; 
she  continued  to  enjoy  the  flavor  of  affairs  of  state, 
the  reminiscence  of  her  days  of  power,  until  her  death 
at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 

1  The  best  authority  for  this  is  St.  Simon,  MemoireSy  xi.  74-84, 
to  whom  Mme.  des  Ursins  gave  a  full  history  of  this  curious 
transaction. 

2  Orry  to  Torcy,  January  5,  1715. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   REIGN   OF   LOUIS   XIV. 
1712-1715. 

Not  only  the  calamities  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish 
Succession,  but  a  series  of  domestic  bereavements,  cast 
a  gloom  over  the  closing  years  of  Louis  XIV.'s  career. 
In  1711,  his  only  son,  the  dauphin,  was  carried  off  by 
the  small-pox.  He  had  lived  little  respected,  and  he 
died  little  regretted.  His  character  was  indeed  nega- 
tive to  an  extraordinary  degree,  and  he  possessed,  it 
was  said,  neither  vices  nor  virtues,  neither  tastes  nor 
desires.  One  thing  only  he  had  done  with  zeal,  and 
that  was  to  hunt  wolves.  No  man  living  had  killed  so 
many  wolves.  He  hunted  them  leisurely,  as  befitted 
his  temperament,  riding  deliberately,  incurring  no 
risks,  but  devoting  to  their  pursuit  a  very  large  part 
of  the  fifty  years  of  his  life.  The  nullity  of  his  char- 
acter was  in  part  due  to  the  imperious  nature  of  his 
father.  Louis  intrusted  no  authority  to  his  son. 
When  the  dauphin  was  beginning  to  be  an  old  man, 
he  was  still  treated  by  his  father  as  a  child  of  six ;  the 
humblest  attendant  was  no  more  awed  and  embarrassed 
in  the  presence  of  the  great  monarch  than  was  the 
heir  apparent  to  the  throne. 

The  dauphin's  oldest  son,  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
now  became  the  heir   apparent.     It  was  only  for  a 


294  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

short  period.  Early  in  1712  a  malignant  fever  at- 
tacked the  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  and  in  a  few  days 
she  was  dead.  Her  death  was  followed  by  that  of 
her  husband  -and  of  their  oldest  son.  On  the  same 
day,  the  remains  of  the  three  were  deposited  among 
the  tombs  of  the  French  monarchs  at  St.  Denis.  Three 
successive  dauphins  of  France,  the  son,  grandson,  and 
great-grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  died  suddenly  within 
a  year. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  the  pupil  of  Fenelon ; 
he  was  a  man  of  exemplary  life,  of  serious  purposes ; 
had  he  reigned,  it  has  been  thought  that  a  golden 
age  would  have  come  for  France,  that  the  course  of 
history  would  have  been  changed,  and  the  benefits  of 
the  Revolution  might  have  been  obtained,  without  its 
horrors. 

There  seems  to  have  been  little  ground  on  which  to 
base  these  sanguine  expectations.  The  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy was  doubtless  an  amiable  young  man  ;  he  died 
when  only  twenty-nine,  and  it  is  possible  that  his  views 
would  have  broadened  with  years  and  experience.  He 
would  not  have  devoted  his  life  to  hunting  wolves,  like 
his  father,  nor  to  debauchery,  like  his  son  ;  he  was 
neither  an  idler  nor  a  profligate.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, men  of  the  most  unexceptionable  morals  often 
make  very  poor  kings.  There  is  every  reason  to  think 
that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  would  have  sought  to 
reform  the  state,  not  by  progress  but  by  retrogression. 
His  ideals  of  government  were  in  the  ages  that  were 
past,  and  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  apply  them 
in  the  France  of  his  day."  He  wished  to  restore  to  the 
aristocracy  an  influence  which  would  have  been  as 
much  out  of  season  as  a  feudal  castle  ;  in  religion  he 
was  the  narrowest  of  bigots  ;  he  approved  of  the  revo- 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         295 

cation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  ;  lie  was  even  more 
adverse  to  toleration  than  his  grandfather  ;  to  recall 
the  Huguenots,  he  said,  would  be  an  impious  measure, 
and  fraught  with  dangers  to  the  country.  His  religious 
practices  were  not  of  the  character  which  indicate  a 
broad  mind ;  he  observed  the  services,  the  fasts,  the 
minutest  regulations  of  the  church,  with  a  rigor  that 
would  have  been  commendable  in  the  time  of  St.  Louis, 
but  seemed  unseasonable  in  the  age  of  Voltaire.  Even 
his  grandfather  sometimes  sneered,  when  the  duke 
would  not  leave  matins  or  complines  to  attend  to  im- 
portant matters  of  state.  He  disapproved  of  the  thea- 
tre ;  he  thought  that  opera  airs  savored  of  sin  ;  he  has 
recorded  his  surprise  at  finding  pure  morals  inculcated 
by  the  pagan  writers  of  antiquity.  He  was  apprehen- 
sive of  savants,  and  feared  that  any  increase  of  know- 
ledge among  the  lower  classes  would  be  prejudicial  to 
the  state.  A  simple-minded  peasant,  who  conld  nei- 
ther read  nor  write,  he  regarded  as  a  better  citizen 
than  a  scholar  in  search  of  new  truths  in  science  or 
politics. 

He  had  occasionally  been  given  the  command  of  an 
army,  but  he  had  shown  no  capacity  for  the  manage- 
ment of  men.  He  was  not  timid  physically,  but  he 
was  irresolute  and  helpless  in  any  crisis,  and  the  dis- 
asters of  the  campaign  of  Oudenarde  were  largely  due 
to  his  inefficiency.  When  the  army  marched  from 
Tournay  and  a  battle  was  imminent,  the  duke  joined 
the  bishop  in  praying  for  victory,  instead  of  advising 
with  his  generals  as  to  the  means  to  obtain  it. 

He  gave  his  opinion  on  the  question  of  whether  the 
Pretender  should  be  treated  as  king  of  England,  and 
declared  that  no  honest  man  should  hesitate  to  recog- 
nize the  prince  who  was  a  legitimate  sovereign.    When 


296  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Louis  was  uncertain,  the  duke  was  in  distress,  and  he 
was  overjoyed  when  his  grandfather  was  induced  to 
commit  one  of  the  most  serious  mistakes  of  his  long 
reign. ^  Nothing  that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  ever  did 
or  said  indicates  that  he  was  fitted  to  rule  France  in 
the  eighteenth  century  with  wisdom  ;  like  Charles 
I.  of  England,  he  had  neither  the  instinct  to  be  in 
harmony  with  the  drift  of  opinion,  nor  the  force  to 
control  it.  It  is  not  the  wicked  men,  but  the  wrong- 
headed,  who  do  the  most  harm.  The  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy would  probably  have  been  as  impotent  as  Louis 
XVI.  to  arrest  the  course  of  the  French  Revolution.^ 

The  deaths  of  the  duke  and  his  amiable  wife  were 
the  only  misfortunes  which  seem  to  have  caused  genu- 
ine grief  to  Louis  XIV.  The  pleasures  of  the  court 
had  gpne  on  with  hardly  a  check  when  Louis's  son 
died,  but  at  the  loss  of  his  grandson  the  old  king  was 
perceptibly  affected.  His  court  had  long  lost  some 
of  its  early  splendor ;  and  the  views  of  the  king,  and 
still  more  those  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  became  stricter 
with  years.  She  questioned  the  propriety  of  the  pro- 
fane music  for  which  Louis  still  had  a  strong  taste ; 
she  feared  that  the  ladies  of  the  court  wore  their 
dresses  too  low  ;  while  she  admitted  that  piety  was 
now  the  fashion,  she  distrusted  the  sincerity  of  many 
of  its  professors.^  The  burden  of  entertaining  the 
king,  who  had  become  old  and  despondent,  weighed 

^  See  letter  of  Duke  of  Burgundy  to  Philip  V.,  October,  1701. 

2  The  best  authorities  for  the  views  and  character  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  are  his  papers,  published  by  his  eulogist, 
the  Abb^  Proyart,  and  the  memoirs  of  St.  Simon,  who  was  his 
confidant,  and  one  of  his  most  ardent  admirers.  See,  also, 
Projets  du  Gouvernement  du  Due  de  Bourgogne,  a  system  of  re- 
forms prepared  by  St.  Simon  and  published  by  Mesnard. 

^  Lettres  ed,  de  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  ii.  446  ;  vi.  269. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         297 

upon  her,  and  she  longed  for  the  hour  when  she  could 
find  a  permanent  retreat  at  St.  Cyr. 

Eeligious  wrangling  disturbed  the  last  years  of  the 
king's  life.  His  confessor  was  now  Father  Le  Tel- 
lier,  an  intriguing  and  intolerant  Jesuit.  By  him  the 
Pope  was  induced  to  issue  the  famous  bull  Unigenitus, 
which  anathematized  many  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Jansenists,  and,  as  it  was  claimed,  many  tenets  which 
had  the  authority  of  the  Bible  as  well  as  of  Janse- 
iiius.  The  endeavor  to  force  both  clergy  and  laity 
to  profess  their  faith  in  the  Unigenitus  continued  a 
cause  of  dissension  and  persecution  in  France  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  made  as  many  unbe- 
lievers as  the  writings  of  the  Encyclopaedists. 

The  king  was  ignorant  in  religious  matters,  and  he 
could  be  easily  controlled  by  an  unscrupulous  casuist. 
He  was  brought  to  give  his  assent  to  the  destruction 
of  the  ancient  monastery  of  Port  Eoyal  in  the  Fields, 
so  famous  for  the  piety  and  the  genius  of  those  who 
had  been  connected  with  it.  The  aged  sisters,  who 
still  remained  there,  were  carried  off  under  the  charge 
of  gens  d'armes,  as  if  they  had  been  the  inmates 
of  a  disorderly  house;  the  church  and  the  convent 
were  torn  down,  and  not  a  stone  left  standing ;  even 
the  dead  who  were  there  buried  were  taken  from  their 
resting-places.  Such  an  act  of  vandalism  marked 
the  culmination  of  the  religious  policy  of  the  age  of 
Louis  XIV. 

In  the  summer  of  1715,  the  king's  health  began  to 
decline.  It  seems  almost  certain  that,  if  he  had  been 
treated  with  skill,  his  life  could  have  been  prolonged 
for  many  years.  His  constitution  was  one  of  extraor- 
dinary vigor;  his  habits  had  been  of  unusual  regu- 
larity; he  had   daily  taken  a  great  deal  of  outdoor 


298         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

exercise ;  he  could  expect  to  pass  fourscore  untroubled 
by  physical  decrepitude.  His  case  did  not  receive 
proper  treatment.  His  physician  insisted  that  the 
ailment  was  not  serious,  until  it  was  too  late  to  arrest 
its  progress.  Such  has  been  the  advance  of  science 
that  the  humblest  of  us  would  now  be  promptly  cured 
of  a  malady  which,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  short- 
ened the  life  of  the  greatest  king  of  Europe. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August  it  was  known  that 
Louis  had  but  a  few  days  to  live.  He  met  death  with 
the  dignity  and  self-possession  that  he  had  shown 
during  all  his  life.  One  after  another  his  principal 
officials  and  the  members  of  his  family  were  brought 
in  to  see  him  for  the  last  time.  For  each  he  had 
some  fitting  words  of  kindly  reminder,  or  of  judicious 
advice.  He  thanked  his  courtiers  for  their  faithful 
service,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  they  would  some- 
times think  of  him.  "  I  pass  away,"  he  added,  "  but 
the  state  remains  forever.  Continue  faithful  to  it,  and 
set  an  example  to  my  other  subjects."  The  young 
prince  who  was  to  succeed  him  was  brought  to  his 
bedside.  "  You  will  be  a  great  king,"  he  said,  "  but 
your  happiness  will  depend  upon  your  submission  to 
God,  and  the  care  which  you  take  to  relieve  your 
people.  For  this  reason  you  must  avoid  war  as  much 
as  possible.  It  is  the  ruin  of  the  people.  Do  not 
follow  the  bad  example  which  I  have  set  you.  I  have 
imdertaken  war  too  lightly,  and  have  continued  it 
from  vanity.  Do  not  imitate  me,  but  be  a  pacific 
prince,  and  let  your  chief  occupation  be  to  relieve 
your  subjects."  ^ 

1  Dangeau,  xvi.  126,  128.  Dangeau  is  the  most  trustworthy 
authority  on  these  remarks,  as  he  is  on  anything  concerning  the 
king's  private  life. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUTS  XIV.         299 

Whatever  were  Louis's  faults,  he  always  recognized 
the  responsibility  of  a  monarch  to  those  whom  he 
ruled.  The  child  whom  he  advised  was,  unhappily, 
to  grow  up  destitute  of  any  sense  of  responsibility. 

The  king  said  to  Mme.  de  Maintenon  that  he  had 
heard  much  of  the  difficulty  of  dying,  but,  now  that 
the  dreaded  moment  had  come,  he  found  it  very  easy. 
She  stayed  by  him  until  he  had  lost  consciousness. 
Then  she  felt  that  her  duty  was  accomplished:  she 
bade  farewell  to  her  servants,  abandoned  the  court 
where  she  had  long  wearied  of  her  extraordinary  for- 
tune, and  retired  to  the  convent  of  St.  Cyr,  there  to 
stay  during  the  remaining  years  of  her  life.  Louis 
bade  adieu  to  earthly  greatness  with  tranquillity,  and 
Mme.  de  Maintenon  with  eagerness.  On  Septem- 
ber 1,  1715,  Louis  XIV.  died.  He  was  not  quite 
seventy-seven,  and  he  had  been  king  of  France  for 
over  seventy-two  years.  His  was  the  longest  reign 
in  French  history. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  extending  over  almost 
three  quarters  of  a  century,  and  controlled  during  all 
that  time  by  the  same  political  principles,  furnished 
an  opportunity  for  the  full  development  of  the  theory 
of  government  which  that  monarch  professed.  It  con- 
trasts forcibly  with  the  rapid  fluctuations  of  more  re- 
cent times.  A  period  of  equal  length  in  French  his- 
tory takes  us  from  the  time  when  Turgot  was  dismissed 
from  the  counsels  of  Louis  XVI.  because  his  policy 
was  too  liberal,  to  the  republic  of  1848  ;  in  that  of 
England,  from  the  endeavors  of  George  III.  to  in- 
crease the  influence  of  the  crown,  to  the  repeal  of  the 
corn  laws  under  Peel ;  in  that  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  day  that  Washington  was  first  inaugurated 
President,  to  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.     When  we  con- 


300  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

sider  the  changes  in  political  institutions,  in  social 
conditions,  in  intellectual  beliefs,  which  those  coun- 
tries have  experienced  during  seventy  years,  we  can 
appreciate  the  results  produced  by  a  government 
which,  during  such  a  period,  followed  an  unchanging 
policy. 

The  theory  of  government  which  was  professed  by 
Louis  XIV.,  and  which  during  his  reign  was  brought 
to  a  high  degree  of  development,  was,  that  the  absolute 
power  of  the  monarch  should  be  unfettered  either  by 
the  aristocracy,  by  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  or 
by  the  action  of  independent  local  bodies.  Authority, 
as  he  believed,  should  be  lodged  in  the  king  alone, 
and  upon  the  central  government  should  devolve  the 
care  of  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  as  a  whole,  and 
of  the  smaller  political  bodies  of  which  it  was  com- 
posed. 

The  growth  of  royal  power  at  the  expense  of  the  au- 
thority once  exercised  by  a  feudal  aristocracy  was  far 
from  being  a  novel  principle ;  it  was  not  devised  by 
Richelieu,  nor  first  developed  by  Louis  XIV.  Such 
had  been  the  tendency  of  French  development  from 
the  days  of  Hugh  Capet,  from  the  time  when  it  can 
properly  be  said  that  there  was  a  kingdom  of  France. 
It  had  been  interrupted  by  many  vicissitudes,  by  the 
misery  and  disasters  of  the  Hundred  Years'  War,  and 
more  recently  by  the  wars  of  religion  ;  but  though  its 
progress  had  been  slow,  it  had  also  been  sure.  This 
development  of  the  royal  office  was  required,  alike 
that  France  might  exercise  a  larger  influence,  and 
that  she  might  enjoy  a  greater  prosperity.  With  but 
few  exceptions  during  a  period  of  six  hundred  years, 
when  the  authority  of  the  king  was  well  established, 
the  country  enjoyed  comparative  order  and  prosperity; 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         301 

and  when  the  authority  of  the  king  was  impaired, 
the  influence  and  the  well-being  of  France  were  less- 
ened. In  other  words,  order  and  the  opportunity  for 
improvement  were  only  found  under  the  protection  of 
the  monarch. 

The  condition  of  France  when  Richelieu  assumed 
power  was  far  removed  from  that  of  France  under 
Philip  the  Fair  or  Louis  XI.  The  cardinal  found  the 
influence  of  the  aristocracy  diminished,  and  he  left  it 
more  diminished.  The  Prince  of  Conde,  under  the 
regency  of  Marie  de  Medici,  no  longer  possessed  an 
independent  authority  such  as  had  been  exercised 
by  the  Duke  of  Brittany  under  Louis  XI.  He  was, 
however,  a  much  more  powerful  nobleman  than  his 
grandson  under  Louis  XIV.  When  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIII.  began,  there  were  nobles  who  still  had 
a  certain  degree  of  local  influence  and  authority, 
who  retained  some  relics  of  their  feudal  foothold, 
whose  position  did  not  depend  wholly  on  the  offices 
with  which  they  might  be  intrusted  by  the  king.  This 
was  not  so  a  century  later.  The  nobility  still  pos- 
sessed privileges,  but  they  no  longer  possessed  power. 
Princes  and  dukes  looked  to  the  monarch's  warrant 
for  their  authority,  and  they  could  look  nowhere  else. 
Deprived  of  that,  they  were  as  powerless  as  an  arti- 
san in  his  shop,  or  a  peasant  on  his  acre  of  land. 

It  was  the  policy  of  Richelieu  to  destroy  the  rem- 
nants of  authority  of  the  feudal  aristocracy.  His 
traditions  were  followed  by  Mazarin  and  Louis  XIV. 
The  troubles  of  the  Fronde  do  not  deserve  the  name 
of  an  aristocratic,  much  less  of  a  popular  reaction. 
They  were  the  turmoils  excited  by  selfish  intriguers 
against  the  authority  of  an  unpopular  foreigner  ;  their 
only  importance  was    in   the  harm  which   they  did. 


302         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  reactionary  tendencies  of  the  little  group  of  well- 
meaning  and  unwise  men,  who  built  their  hopes  upon 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  had  no  opportunity  for  their 
development.  At  no  time  after  the  death  of  Mazarin 
was  there  any  more  possibility  of  a  French  nobleman 
asserting  his  authority  against  that  of  the  king,  than 
there  is  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  inciting  a  rebellion 
against  Queen  Victoria. 

The  overthrow  of  the  independent  authority  of  the 
aristocracy  was  certainly  advantageous  to  France. 
Their  influence  had  ceased  to  be  beneficial;  it  was 
impossible  that  it  should  continue  to  exist.  A  grad- 
ual waning  of  their  power  has  been  the  usual  fate  of 
bodies  which,  like  the  French  aristocracy,  constituted 
a  privileged  caste.  The  English  nobility  consisted^ 
of  a  number  of  persons  possessing  a  certain  political 
authority,  who  were  freely  recruited  from  the  com- 
monalty, whose  families  were  commoners,  who  had 
themselves  often  been  commoners  for  a  good  part  of 
their  lives.  They  long  continued  the  leaders  of  a 
community  with  which,  to  a  large  extent,  they  were 
identified  in  feeling  and  sentiment.  But  in  France 
every  member  of  a  noble  family  was  noble.  The 
privileges  which  belonged  to  the  duke  belonged  to  all 
his  offspring.  They  were  removed  from  the  rest  of 
the  nation,  as  he  was  himself.  Like  the  sons  of  the 
Brahmin,  they  were  of  a  different  caste  from  the  j 
Pariah.  They  could  not  become  the  representatives  \ 
of  a  community  from  which  they  were  separated  by 
law  and  by  sentiment.  Members  of  the  third  estate 
were  ennobled,  or  were  allowed  to  share  in  the  im- 
munities possessed  by  the  nobility,  but  the  body  of 
nobles,  though  increased,  remained  distinct.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  there  were  in  France  over  200,000 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN   OF  LOUIS  XIV.         303 

persons  noble  by  birth,  privileged  by  law,  constitut- 
ing one  of  the  three  estates  of  the  kingdom.^  In  Eng- 
land under  Queen  Anne,  about  two  hundred  members 
constituted  the  order  of  the  peerage.  Such  a  differ- 
ence goes  far  to  account  for  the  different  political  de- 
velopment of  the  two  countries.  The  authority  of  the 
French  throne  was  sufficient  to  destroy  the  power  of 
the  nobility,  and  it  could  also  have  accomplished  the 
task  of  making  them  equal  before  the  law  with  the 
rest  of  the  community.  The  attempt  was  not  made. 
Such  a  measure  would  have  been  a  social  revolution, 
but  more  than  any  one  change  it  would  have  tended 
to  avert  a  political  revolution,  and  to  preserve  the 
monarchy  as  an  institution  in  France.  The  history 
of  the  eighteenth  century  shows  how  the  continuance 
of  prerogatives  and  immunities  which  had  no  longer 
any  reason  for  existence,  which  were  the  rudimentary 
and  atrophied  organs  of  political  life,  helped  to  pre- 
pare the  Revolution  of  1789. 

The  incurable  egoism  of  the  privileged  could  be 
overborne  only  by  the  monarchy.  Cities,  officials, 
burgesses,  trades,  as  well  as  nobles  and  clergy,  pos- 
sessed privileges,  different  in  degri^e,  but  all  to  some 
extent  galling.  It  was  contrary  to  human  nature  that 
these  should  be  voluntarily  surrendered.  No  men  have 
ever  been  granted  advantages  by  the  law,  whether 
•  social,  political,  or  commercial,  without  honestly  be- 
lieving that  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  state  de- 
pended upon  their  preservation.  So  far,  therefore, 
as  the  monarchy  attacked  the  position  of  the  aristo- 
cracy, the  criticism  to  be  passed  upon  the  government 

1  This  figure  represents  the  entire  body  of  nobles  of  all  ages. 
M.  Taine  estimates  the  number  at  only  140,000,  which  seems  to 
me  to  be  too  low. 


304  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  Louis  XIV.  is,  not  that  it  went  too  far,  but  that 
it  did  not  go  far  enough. 

The  question  is  more  embarrassing  when  we  con- 
sider the  influence  of  the  centralizing  tendencies  of 
his  reign  upon  the  local  institutions  of  France.  There 
were  two  causes  for  the  existence  of  numerous  and 
diversified  forms  of  local  government  and  provincial 
institutions  in  that  country.  Such  had  been  the  con- 
dition of  all  European  countries  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  France  itself  had  been  built  up,  province  by 
province,  and  sometimes  city  by  city,  the  newly  ac- 
quired territories  retaining  the  privileges  and  customs 
which  they  had  possessed  before  they  were  merged 
into  the  kingdom  of  the  French.  Thus  few  countries 
originally  contained  a  greater  diversity  of  legal  sys- 
tems and  local  institutions.  In  no  other  nation,  per- 
haps, has  the  tendency  been  stronger  towards  centrali- 
zation. The  Revolution  followed  in  the  footsteps  of 
Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.,  and  its  traditions  are 
adopted  by  the  French  republic  of  to-day. 

The  results  of  the  action  of  many  of  these  local  bod- 
ies were  unsatisfactory.  Incoherent  powers  in  sterile 
union  accomplished  nothing.^  Yet  even  in  their  im- 
perfect development  they  possessed  some  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  usually  belong  to  the  regulation  of 
local  affairs  by  those  of  the  vicinage.  In  a  few  of  the 
provinces  representative  bodies  still  existed,  having 
an  authority  analogous  to  that  of  the  States  General 
for  the  kingdom.  They  were  regarded  by  the  govern- 
ment with  an  evil  eye.  The  governors  were  directed 
to  shorten  their  sessions.^     "  The  close  of  the  States," 

^  Thomas,  Une  province  sous  Louis  XI V, 

2  Colbert  to  superintendent,  December  19,  1670.  "  Vous  ne 
sauriez  rien  faire  de  plus  agr^able  k  sa  Majesty  que  de  terminer 
en  peu  de  temps  Tassembl^e  des  Estats  de  Languedoc.'*  See, 
also,  LettreSf  iv.  63  et  pas. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         305 

wrote  a  minister,  "  is  the  end  of  agitation  and  of  vexa- 
tion to  good  citizens."  ^ 

The  States  were  warned  that  unless  they  were  sub- 
missive, it  would  be  long  before  they  would  again  be 
allowed  to  assemble.^  The  superintendents  disputed 
their  jurisdiction.  They  were  abolished  in  many  of 
the  provinces  where  they  had  once  existed.  Langue- 
doc,  Provence,  Burgundy,  Brittany,  and  Artois  were 
the  principal  districts  in  which  provincial  States  still 
remained.  Under  Louis  XIV.,  their  power  of  fixing 
the  quota  to  be  contributed  by  the  province  to  the 
general  government  became  little  more  than  nominal, 
but  it  was  not  so  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign. 
Then  the  amount  of  the  grant  was  often  a  subject  of 
long  wrangling  between  the  assemblies  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  crown.  The  nobles  and  the  clergy 
were  usually  ready  to  accede  to  any  demands  made 
by  the  sovereign,  but  the  delegates  of  the  third  estate 
were  less  tractable.  "This  is  excusable,"  wrote  a 
governor,  "  because  it  is  the  third  estate  which  has  to 
bear  almost  all  the  impositions."  ^  Various  measures 
were  adopted  to  induce  the  delegates  to  comply  with 
the  king's  desires.  The  unruly  were  sometimes  sent 
into  banishment ;  money  was  freely  used ;  a  large 
proportion  of  the  delegates  could  be  reached  by  bribes, 
and  the  authorities  at  Paris  authorized  the  expenditure 
of  the  requisite  sums.^  These  evidences  of  indepen- 
dence disappeared  as  the  absolute  authority  of  Louis 

1  Cor.  Adm.,  i.  13. 

2  Lettres  de  Colbert,  iv.  68.  "  Vous  pouvez  les  assurer  que  de 
longtemps  ils  ne  se  verront  ensemble."  —  Letter  to  Count  of 
Grignan,  December  11,  1671. 

s  Louis  of  Bourbon  to  Colbert,  June  18,  1662. 
*  The  details  of  this  can  be  found  in  Lettres  de  Colbert  and 
Correspondance  Administrative  sous  Louis  XIV. 


306         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

XIV.  became  firmly  established.  "I  speak  in  the 
name  of  a  king,  and  a  king  who  rules,"  said  the 
Prince  of  Conti  to  the  States  of  Languedoc.  The  gov- 
ernor had  only  to  announce  the  requirements  of  the 
sovereign,  and  they  were  acceded  to  without  question. 
Still  the  condition  of  the  provinces  which  retained 
their  local  States  was  usually  more  prosperous  than 
that  of  the  rest  of  France.  Even  if  they  were  sub- 
jected to  the  same  burdens,  the  collection  was  in  their 
own  hands,  and  this  advantage  was  sufficient  to  affect 
materially  the  condition  of  the  people.  The  cost  of 
carrying  on  the  state  is  a  grave  problem  at  all  times, 
but  the  question  of  taxation  was  more  serious  in  the 
age  of  Louis  XIV.  than  it  is  to-day.  The  expense 
of  the  government  was  larger  in  proportion  to  the 
wealth  of  the  community.  The  maintenance  of  large 
armies,  the  salaries  of  an  inordinate  number  of  offi- 
cials, as  well  as  the  costly  surroundings  of  the  sover- 
eign, made  the  administration  of  Louis  XIV.  as  ex- 
pensive as  modern  governments,  while  the  wealth  of 
the  country  was  vastly  less.  Not  only  did  the  taxes 
consume  a  larger  part  of  the  national  income,  but  the 
exemption  of  the  richer  classes  from  a  considerable 
portion  of  their  burden  rendered  it  more  grievous  for 
the  poor.  This  condition  was  aggravated  by  the  cost 
of  collection.  When  we  consider  the  profits  of  the 
farmers  of  taxes,  the  frauds  of  officials,  the  forced 
sales  of  the  cows,  the  crops,  and  the  furniture  of  the 
peasant  who  had  no  ready  money,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  every  hundred  francs  of  which  the  gov- 
ernment had  the  benefit  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty 
francs  to  the  taxpayer.^  Now,  the  expense  of  collecting 
one  hundred  francs  does  not  amount  to  two  francs. 
^  Bois  Guillebert,  a  governmental  official,  estimated  the  cost 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN   OF  LOUIS  XIV.         307 

The  effect  of  Colbert's  reforms  was  shown  in  the 
increased  prosperity  which  France  enjoyed  during  the 
first  years  of  his  administration.  Colbert,  however, 
was  too  conservative  to  introduce  any  radical  changes 
in  the  imposition  and  collection  of  taxes.  Under  him 
a  bad  system  was  well  administered.  Under  his  suc- 
cessors the  same  system  remained,  and  the  former  evils 
reappeared.  One  marked  difference  distinguished  the 
provinces  with  local  States,  and  its  effects  illustrate 
the  importance  of  wisdom  in  modes  of  taxation.  It 
is  much  the  fashion  to  sneer  at  economic  laws,  and  to 
deride  the  theorists  who  attach  weight  to  them.  The 
study  of  history  shows  that  the  communities  by  which 
they  are  disregarded  suffer  in  purse,  as  much  as  the 
populations  of  the  East  who  disregard  the  laws  of 
hygiene  suffer  in  health.  In  the  most  of  France, 
the  taille  was  imposed  on  the  supposed  amount  of 
the  personal  property  of  the  taxpayer.  Its  imposi- 
tion was  attended  by  the  irregularities  and  the  abuses 
that  are  inseparable  from  that  system.  One  was 
taxed  too  much ;  another  escaped  altogether.  One 
lived  in  squalor,  lest  he  should  be  suspected  of  hav- 
ing money ;  another  corrupted  the  assessor  and  was 
left  off  the  roll ;  his  neighbors  were  obliged  to  pay 
his  quota,  and  sought  in  vain  for  redress.^  In  the 
provinces  where  the  taille  was  collected  by  means 
of  the  local  States,  it  was  imposed  upon  the  land. 
It  was  assessed  and  collected  with  ease  and  with  cer- 

of  collecting  at  a  much  higher  figure.' —  Letter  to  Vauban,  August 
22,  1704.  A  decret  of  1709  says  that  the  expense  of  collection 
in  Burgundy,  which  was  a  pays  (TEtats,  was  from  one  fourth  to 
.one  half  of  the  amount  of  the  taille. 

1  There  are  innumerable  complaints  of  such  abuses  in  the 
official  correspondence. 


308         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

tainty.  There  were  few  unjust  exemptions ;  the  rate 
was  free  from  violent  fluctuation ;  farmers  and  peas- 
ants bought  land  or  adjusted  their  rents  with  refer- 
ence to  an  impost  which  was  certain  and  uniform. 
The  contemporary  writers  all  admit  the  advantages 
of  a  system  which  the  general  government  failed  to 
introduce  in  the  rest  of  France.^ 

In  the  administration  of  the  smaller  local  bodies  we 
find  less  efficiency  and  more  extravagance.  A  great 
number  of  municipalities  still  retained  the  right  to 
choose  their  local  officers,  and  exercised  a  considerable 
degree  of  self-government.  Some  of  these  could  trace 
their  institutions  back  to  the  days  of  the  Roman 
dominion.  Others  held  their  charters  for  services 
rendered  their  sovereign  in  wars  against  Edward  of 
England  or  Charles  of  Burgundy.  Many  had  received 
grants  of  privileges  from  their  feudal  lord,  which  had 
been  confirmed  by  the  monarch.  These  local  rights 
were  much  curtailed  under  Louis  XIV.,  usually  upon 
the  pretext  that  the  inefficiency  of  the  officials  needed 
the  supervision  of  the  general  government.  Such 
accusations  were  often  well  founded.  Most  of  the 
towns  had  incurred  liabilities  which  they  met  with 
difficulty.  In  proportion  to  their  wealth,  the  cities 
were  more  heavily  in  debt  in  the  seventeenth  century 
than  they  are  in  the  nineteenth.^    Many  of  them  were 

1  Colbert  was  among  those  who  perceived  the  advantages  de- 
rived from  this  mode  of  taxation.  He  seems  to  have  desired  its 
extension,  but  he  was  unable  to  carry  his  projects  into  execution. 
Arthur  Young,  Travels,  p.  20,  edit,  of  1889,  says  :  "  We  are 
now  in  Berri,  a  province  governed  by  a  provincial  assembly  ; 
consequently  the  roads  good  and  made  without  corvdes."  This 
provincial  assembly  in  Berri  was  recent,  but  in  a  few  years  it 
effected  great  improvements  in  the  condition  of  the  province. 

2  Illustrations  of  this  can  be  found  in  Correapondance  des  Con- 
troleurs  Getieraux,  and  in  Lettres  de  Colbert. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         309 

entirely  bankrupt.  The  revision  of  their  indebted- 
ness, which  Colbert  undertook,  proved  so  great  a  task 
that  it  was  not  completed  during  the  twenty-two  years 
of  his  ministry. 

The  local  officers  were  usually  chosen  by  a  small 
body  of  electors,  the  principal  burgesses  of  the  town. 
On  the  whole,  their  administration  was  no  better  than 
that  of  our  modern  city  governments,  elected  by  uni- 
versal suffrage.  It  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  as  good. 
Inefficiency  was  common  and  corruption  was  not  rare. 
There  are  constant  complaints  of  the  expenses  of  the 
officials.  Mayors  and  aldermen  went  up  to  Paris, 
nominally  to  protect  the  interests  of  their  fellow-citi- 
zens, and  enjoyed  at  their  expense  a  trip  which  was  as 
rare  a  luxury  then  as  a  journey  to  America  is  now. 
Junketing  at  the  cost  of  the  community  was  a  more 
serious  evil  in  Marseilles  and  Bordeaux  than  it  is  in 
New  York  and  Philadelphia.^  The  citizens  of  Mar- 
seilles complained  that  their  consuls  must  needs  go  to 
Aix  with  a  eoach-and-four,  and  spend  over  five  thou- 
sand livres  in  the  display  of  unbecoming  style.^  Large 
disbursements  were  often  explained  by  the  necessity 
of  bribing  the  ministers  and  courtiers  whose  assistance 
was  sought.  The  deputy  of  Boulogne  wrote  his  con- 
stituents that  he  had  given  four  hundred  and  fifty 
florins  to  persons  of  distinction,  in  order  that  they 
might  favor  the  interests  of  the  city.^ 

By  a  series  of  edicts  Louis  XIV.  deprived  these  cen- 

^  The  references  to  such  trips,  and  complaints  of  their  ex- 
orbitant cost,  are  very  frequent  in  the  documents  relating  to 
municipalities. 

2  Arch.  Nat.  H.,  1314. 

8  Inv.  Arch.  Boulogne^  988,  cited  by  Babeau,  La  ville  sous  Van- 
den  regime. 


310  FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY. 

tres  of  local  political  life  of  the  independence  which 
they  had  enjoyed.  The  cities  were  forbidden  to  levy 
any  new  imposts,  except  by  authority  of  the  king.^ 
They  were  required  to  submit  their  expenses  to  the 
superintendent,  who  represented  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  these  could  not  exceed  a  specified  amount 
without  the  consent  of  the  royal  council.^  In  16929 
the  right  to  elect  municipal  officers  was  taken  from 
them ;  the  general  government  assumed  this  function, 
and  disposed  of  the  offices  at  prices  varying  with  their 
importance  and  their  emoluments.  This  measure 
seemed  to  extinguish  what  little  life  was  still  left 
in  the  municipal  organizations.  Like  many  other  im- 
portant political  changes,  it  was  adopted  solely  as 
a  means  of  raising  money.  Kings  have  destroyed 
the  liberties  of  their  subjects  from  a  desire  to  get 
money,  as  subjects  in  turn  have  overthrown  the  au- 
thority of  their  kings  from  an  unwillingness  to  pay 
it.  Louis  sold  these  offices  to  those  who  wished  to 
purchase  them,  but  he  was  equally  willing  to  sell  them 
to  the  municipal  corporations  themselves.  The  most 
of  them  clung  to  the  remnants  of  their  political  exist- 
ence, and  purchased  from  the  government  the  right  to 
choose  their  own  officials.  The  process  was  so  sim- 
ple, and  usually  so  efficacious,  a  way  of  raising  money, 
that  it  was  several  times  resorted  to  during  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  A  city  paid  for  the  privilege  of 
electing  its  officers,  only  to  be  deprived  of  it  after  a 
few  years,  unless  it  would  again  pay  ransom  for  its 
independence. 

The  vitality  of  the  city  and  town  governments  in 
France  was  thus  impaired  during  the  reign  of  Louis 

1  Arret  of  1665. 

2  Edict  of  April,  1683. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         311 

Xiy.,  and  never  again  have  they  possessed  the  impor- 
tance which  they  had  during  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  country  parish  could  not  repair 
the  roof  of  the  church  which  the  wind  had  damaged, 
nor  rebuild  the  crumbling  wall  of  the  parsonage,  with- 
out the  authority  of  the  government.^  The  theories 
of  centralized  administration  under  the  old  regime 
survived  the  Revolution,  and  are  found  with  little 
modification  in  the  French  republic. 

It  is  probable  that  the  material  condition  of  these 
small  political  bodies  was  benefited  by  the  change ; 
the  superintendent  was  usually  a  much  more  intelli- 
gent man  than  the  mayor  or  the  alderman,  and  he 
was  quite  as  honest.  The  injury  which  resulted  from 
this  phase  of  centralization  was  indirect.  The  towns- 
people lost  their  interest  in  affairs  over  which  they  ex- 
ercised merely  a  nominal  control.  At  Dijon,  early  in 
Louis's  reign,  1,500  and  1,600  votes  were  cast  at  muni- 
cipal elections,  in  1711  only  311,  and  only  349  in  1714. 
The  history  both  of  England  and  of  the  United  States 
shows  that  the  education  of  the  citizen  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  his  town  or  city  is  the  best 
training  for  an  intelligent  performance  of  his  duties 
as  a  member  of  the  state.  The  man  who  has  acquired 
correct  views  about  country  roads  and  the  town  pump 
is  usually  fitted  to  vote  and  act  with  judgment  on 
questions  which  affect  the  welfare  of  the  republic. 
The  French  of  the  provinces  were  deprived  of  this 
training.  They  remained  ignorant  and  apathetic  con- 
cerning a  government  in  which  they  had  no  part.  "  A 
parish,"  said  Turgot,  "is  a  collection  of  hovels,  and 
of  inhabitants  who  are  as  passive  as  their  huts."  All 
intellectual  and  political  life  centred  in  Paris.  The 
1  Tocqueville,  Uancien  Regime,  75. 


812         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

influence  of  that  city  on  the  revolutions  of  the  last 
hundred  years  is  one  of  their  most  striking  features. 
The  destiny  of  France  has  been  decided  at  Paris,  as 
that  of  the  empire  was  decided  at  Rome.  This  was 
not  the  case  to  the  same  extent  in  the  earlier  history 
of  the  kingdom.  To  the  centralizing  tendencies  of 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  the  increase  in  the  influence 
of  the  capital  was  largely  due. 

The  French  Parliaments  were  also  subjected  to  vig- 
orous repression  at  the  hands  of  the  king ;  they  were 
stripped  of  their  political  power.  The  part  taken  by 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  in  the  disturbances  of  the 
Fronde  excited  the  animosity  of  Louis  XIV.  while  he 
was  still  a  lad.  Parliament  and  Jansenist  were  the 
two  names  which,  during  all  his  life,  were  most  odious 
to  him.  One  of  his  first  public  performances,  when 
only  a  youth  of  sixteen,  had  been  to  appear  before 
the  Parliament  of  Paris,  booted  and  spurred  and  with 
whip  in  hand,  and  to  tell  the  members  roughly  that 
he  demanded  an  unquestioning  obedience.  It  was 
then  that  the  famous  apocryphal  remark,  "  L'etat  c'est 
moi,"  was  supposed  to  have  been  uttered  by  the  young 
king.^ 

The  Parliaments  during  Louis's  reign  were  forced 
to  confine  themselves  to  their  legitimate  duties ;  they 
were  judicial  bodies  and  nothing  more.  The  tenacious 
spirit  of  these  organizations  was  not  overcome  during 
the  sixty  years  that  they  dared  not  question  the  com- 
mand of  the  master.  Immediately  after  Louis's  death, 
they  were  influential  enough  to  treat  with  the  regent, 
and  to  set  aside  the  will  of  the  sovereign  whom  they 
had  long  obeyed.  We  shall  find  them  in  the  eight- 
eenth century  playing  an  active,  though  not  often  a 
^  France  under  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  ii.  279. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN   OF  LOUIS  XIV.         313 

useful,  part  in  the  state.  These  bodies  of  lawyers 
were  more  successful  in  resisting  the  attacks  of  the 
central  government  than  any  other  of  the  political 
institutions  of  France  ;  but  this  power  of  resistance 
was  not  accompanied  by  an  equal  amount  of  wisdom. 
Of  the  political  organizations,  which  were  to  some 
extent  independent  of  the  monarchy,  the  Parliaments 
were  the  most  tenacious  of  life,  and  their  existence 
was  of  the  least  value  to  the  community.^ 

When  Louis  died,  in  1715,  the  population  of  France 
had  somewhat  diminished  ;  trade  was  disordered,  and 
agriculture  was  not  prosperous.  In  a  famous  passage, 
La  Bruyere  has  described  the  condition  of  the  peas- 
ants under  Louis  XIV. :  "  One  sees  certain  wild  ani- 
mals, male  and  female,  scattered  over  the  country, 
black,  livid,  burned  by  the  sun,  attached  to  the  soil, 
which  they  cultivate  with  an  invincible  pertinacity. 
They  have  an  articulate  voice,  and  when  they  stand 
erect  they  show  a  human  face,  and  in  fact  they  are 
men.  At  night  they  retire  into  their  dens  ;  they  live 
on  water,  black  bread,  and  roots."  ^ 

This  picture  is  somewhat  overcolored.  Certainly, 
the  condition  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil  was  sufficiently 
miserable.  They  were  often  hungry  and  always  dirty. 
But  the  great  moralist  was  led  by  his  love  of  glitter- 
ing contrasts  to  make  his  portrait  more  striking  than 
the  original.  He  intended  by  his  description  to  show 
how  despicable  was  the  condition  of  the  peasants, 
quite  as  much  as  to  show  how  lamentable  it  was.  An 
evil  in  French  society,  far  more  serious  than  the  lack 

1  An  account  of  the  organization  of  the  French  Parliaments 
and  of  the  growth  of  their  political  authority  will  be  found  in 
France  under  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  i.  379-391. 

2  La  Bruyere,  ii,  61,  De  Vhomme. 


314    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  soap  in  tlie  hovels  of  the  poor,  was  that  the  rich  re- 
garded the  peasantry  with  the  same  feelings  that  the 
planters  of  the  Southern  States  entertained  towards 
their  slaves.  The  distinction  of  classes  destroyed  any 
community  of  sentiment.  Later  in  the  century,  the 
philosophical  literature  of  the  day  produced  some 
change  in  this  respect.  Interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  lower  orders  became  fashionable.  Even  then,  it 
was  not  sufficiently  universal  or  well  grounded  to  be 
of  much  service  in  solving  the  social  problems  of 
France. 

The  government  of  Louis  XIV.  exercised,  however, 
an  important  influence  in  preparing  France  for  the 
increasing  prosperity  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
established  order  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  it  swept 
away  the  last  traces  of  feudal  and  mediaeval  lawless- 
ness. The  advantages  which  would  naturally  have 
resulted  were  hindered  during  the  reign  of  Louis 
himself  by  long  wars  and  unwise  financial  measures. 
But  the  work  was  done.  The  first  requisites  for  pros- 
perity, freedom  from  internal  commotion  and  private 
violence,  the  unquestioned  supremacy  of  the  law,  were 
established-  in  France.  After  Louis's  death  the  coun- 
try enjoyed  long  seasons  of  peace.  Its  commercial 
system  became  more  liberal.  The  petty  shopkeeping 
of  the  Middle  Ages  was  succeeded  by  larger  business 
ventures.  France  was  in  a  position  to  reap  the  full 
benefit  of  these  changes.  The  impetus  to  trade  which 
was  given  by  the  enterprises  of  Law,  and  which  more 
than  counterbalanced  the  temporary  disasters  that 
followed  the  ruin  of  his  system,  the  economical  theo- 
ries of  the  physiocrats,  the  reforms  of  Turgot  and  of 
his  disciples,  could  have  their  full  effect.  From  1715 
to  1785,  the  population  of  France  increased  thirty- 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUTS  XIV.         315 

three  per  cent,  and  its  foreign  trade  five-fold.  This 
great  advance  was,  in  no  inconsiderable  part,  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  centralized  government  of  Louis  XIV. 
had  secured  for  his  subjects  and  for  their  posterity 
the  blessings  of  undisturbed  tranquillity  and  order. 

In  this  reign  we  can  find  the  beginning  of  another 
important  social  and  economical  change.  When  Col- 
bert commenced  his  ministry,  the  trade  institutions  of 
the  Middle  Ages  were  still  in  force.  Almost  every 
branch  of  industry  was  in  the  hands  of  some  corpora- 
tion, which  jealously  guarded  for  its  members  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  exercise  it.  Admission  was  obtained 
by  a  long  apprenticeship ;  by  strict  regulations  as  to 
the  number  that  might  be  received,  the  dangers  of 
excessive  competition  were  sought  to  be  prevented. 

These  restrictions  upon  trade  undoubtedly  increased 
the  price  of  commodities,  and  tended  to  check  any 
large  development  of  industry.  Improvements  came 
slowly  where  competition  was  restricted.  The  en- 
deavor of  each  organization  to  hold  the  monopoly  of 
some  branch  of  industry  excited  constant  quarrels  as 
to  where  one  trade  began  and  another  stopped.  End- 
less litigation  grew  out  of  such  questions.  For  two 
hundred  years  the  disputes  of  the  bootmakers  and  the 
cobblers  were  before  the  courts,  in  order  to  determine 
in  what  condition  of  dilapidation  the  shoe  escaped  the 
jurisdiction  of  him  who  had  the  right  to  make,  and 
belonged  to  him  who  had  the  right  to  repair.  The 
contests  between  the  bakers  and  the  pastry-cooks,  the 
tailors  and  the  menders,  were  equally  involved.  It 
was  almost  impossible  for  any  new  invention  to  avoid 
the  attacks  of  those  who  claimed  that  by  it  their  privi- 
leges would  suffer.  When  Erard  commenced  the  man- 
ufacture of  the  pianos  which  have  become  so  famous, 


316         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

the  corporation  of  lutemakers  declared  that  his  in* 
strum ents  would  deprive  them  of  their  vested  rights. 
Only  through  the  influence  of  the  queen  was  he  al- 
lowed to  proceed.^ 

The  sumptuous  dinners  and  the  liberal  fees,  by 
which  the  members  of  many  crafts  were  obliged  to 
celebrate  their  admission  to  the  privileges  of  the  order, 
were  abuses  of  less  importance.  The  masterpiece,  by 
which  the  apprentice  must  prove  his  skill,  became 
little  more  than  an  opportunity  for  display.  We  find 
the  officers  of  one  city  charged  with  the  duty  of  eating 
a  turkey,  and  deciding  whether  it  was  sufficiently  well 
roasted,  and  garnished,  and  basted,  to  justify  the  ad- 
mission of  the  artist  into  the  worshipful  company  of 
the  cooks. 

The  endeavors  of  Colbert  to  organize  great  indus- 
tries, to  start  manufactories  where  the  work  was  to  be 
done  on  the  large  scale  of  more  modern  times,  broke 
into  this  system  of  guilds  and  petty  trades.  These 
innovations  were  carried  further  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. During  that  period,  France  passed  from  the 
industrial  systems  of  the  Middle  Ages  to  those  which 
now  prevail  in  all  great  commercial  states.  The  medi- 
aeval guild  passed  away,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  mod- 
ern manufacturer.  The  results  of  such  changes  were 
seen  in  the  progress  of  invention,  the  increase  in  wealth, 
the  growth  in  production,  which  characterized  the 
industrial  history  of  France  during  that  century. 

It  is  not  so  clear  that  the  effect  of  these  changes  on 
the  social  condition  of  the  body  of  the  workmen  was 
at  once  beneficial.  The  development  of  industry  must 
sooner  or  later  be  of  advantage  to  all  who  labor.  The 
mechanics  and  artificers  of  the  present  day  share  in 
^  Levasseur,  Classes  ouvrieres,  ii.  406. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  317 

the  material  benefits  which  have  been  obtained  for  the 
community.  But  the  apprentice  of  a  mediaeval  guild, 
though  he  went  without  much  that  his  descendant  en- 
joys, had  a  somewhat  different  social  position  ;  his  lot 
was  more  intimately  connected  with  that  of  his  mas- 
ter ;  no  apparent  conflict  of  interests  drove  him  to 
combine  with  his  fellows  against  his  employer.  The 
industrial  revolution  which  began  under  Colbert,  and 
which  has  since  proceeded  further,  created  the  feeling 
among  large  bodies  of  men  that  a  great  gulf  divided 
them  from  their  employers.  The  relations  of  appren- 
tices towards  masters,  whose  places  they  might  expect 
to  fill,  were  different  from  those  which  exist  between 
a  modern  employer  of  labor  and  his  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands of  employees.  The  apprentice,  though  a  servant 
in  his  master's  family,  felt  himself  a  member  of  it.  If 
he  was  often  scolded  when  well,  he  was  generally 
cared  for  when  ill.  The  employee  looks  often  with 
sullen  envy  at  the  mansion  of  the  great  manufacturer, 
the  threshold  of  which  he  will  never  cross,  where  his 
name  is  unknown,  and  his  welfare  or  adversity  are 
matters  of  indifference.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
other  benefits  resulting  from  such  changes,  their  tem- 
porary effect  has  been  to  develop  social  classes,  among 
which  the  violences  of  the  Revolution  and  the  Com- 
mune found  eager  advocates. 

The  changes  made  in  legal  procedure  belong  to  the 
beneficial  measures  of  this  reign.  The  reforms  which 
Colbert  desired  were  not  wholly  carried  into  effect, 
but  by  the  code  of  Louis  XIV.  important  ameliora- 
tions were  introduced.  By  it  the  practice  of  the  law 
continued  to  be  regulated  until  it  was  replaced  by  the 
code  of  Napoleon.  To  simplify  and  unify  legal  sys- 
tems is  always  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of 


818    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

the  legislator,  and  such  measures  were  especially 
needed  in  France.  Provinces  of  the  written  law  and 
of  the  unwritten  law  were  in  equal  confusion.  It 
was  not  until  the  Revolution  that  the  French  enjoyed 
the  blessing  of  a  uniform  system  of  law  for  the  whole 
land,  but  the  code  of  Louis  effected  some  improvement 
in  a  mass  of  incoherent  mediaeval  customs  and  pro- 
cedure. 

Imperfect  legal  systems  breed  litigation.  The  great 
frequency  of  lawsuits  in  France  during  the  seventeenth 
century  attracts  our  attention.  The  cost  of  legal  pro- 
cedure was  an  item  in  the  expenses  of  provinces  and 
cities,  as  well  as  of  individuals,  far  more  important, 
relatively,  than  it  is  at  present.  The  duration  of  law- 
suits is  an  evil  now,  but  it  was  a  more  serious  evil 
then.  There  was  little  exaggeration  in  saying,  that  to 
be  a  litigant  was  to  have  an  occupation ;  that  a  law- 
suit begun  in  youth  endured  till  age,  and  was  left  to 
posterity.^  The  volume  of  business  in  France  two 
hundred  years  ago  was  vastly  less  than  it  is  now,  but 
there  were  more  lawsuits.  Colbert  sighed  for  some 
means  by  which  to  lessen  the  ruinous  amount  of  litiga- 
tion, and  his  desire  for  reformation  in  this  respect  has 
been  gratified.  Some  improvement  can  be  seen  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  Chalon  sur  Saone  was  probably 
a  fair  type  of  other  French  towns.  In  1655  there 
were  fifty-two  advocates  in  that  city,  and  in  1787  there 
were  but  thirty-one.^ 

The  French  judges  no  longer  occupy  the  position 
which  they  held  under  the  old  regime.  The  loss  of 
the  political  authority  which  the  courts  once  sought  to 
exercise  to  some  extent  accounts  for  this  change ;  but 

^  Montesquieu,  "  C'est  un  ^tat  que  d'etre  plaideur,"  etc. 
2  Statistics  given  by  Babeau,  La  vie  riirale. 


CLOSE    OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         319 

the  fact  that  litigation  absorbs  a  smaller  proportion  of 
the  time  and  wealth  of  the  community  has  tended  to 
diminish  the  importance  of  lawyers  as  a  class.  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  such  may  be  the  result  of  the  devel- 
opment of  civilization  in  all  countries. 

The  system  of  government  which  reached  its  high- 
est development  under  Louis  XIV.  was  at  the  same 
time  nearing  its  end.  During  seventy  years,  he  and 
his  ministers  labored  to  render  the  power  of  the  mon- 
arch unrestrained,  and  a  little  over  seventy  years  later 
the  monarchy  ceased  to  exist.  The  system  proved 
unfitted  for  the  needs  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Yet 
the  absolute  power  of  Louis  XIV.  was  far  from  be- 
ing the  capricious  despotism  of  a  Sultan  of  Turkey ; 
though  in  no  constitution  was  found  a  definite  limits 
beyond  which  the  sovereign  could  not  exercise  his 
will,  he  was  restrained  by  institutions  which,  although 
weakened,  could  not  be  entirely  disregarded,  by  cus- 
toms and  traditions  which  controlled  the  French  king, 
as  the  unwritten  principles  of  the  constitution  are 
respected  by  the  English  Parliament.  However  abso- 
lutely the  uncontrolled  power  of  the  king  was  pro- 
claimed, it  was  held  in  check  by  the  innumerable 
usages  and  traditions  of  a  highly  civilized  society. 

That  such  a  form  of  government  was  the  best  for 
the  nation  as  well  as  for  the  sovereign,  Louis  XIV. 
believed  as  implicitly  as  any  man  can  believe  in  any 
institution,  human  or  divine.  His  faith  in  the  absolute 
power  of  the  king  was  as  enthusiastic  as  the  faith  of 
Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  in  the  liberty  o£  the 
people.  "  Kings,"  he  wrote,  "  are  absolute  lords,  and 
have  by  nature  the  full  and  free  disposition  of  the 
property  of  all,  alike  that  of  the  church  and  of  the 
laity.  ,  .  .  Nothing   establishes  so  surely  the  happi- 


320         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

ness  and  welfare  of  the  country  as  the  perfect  union 
of  all  authority  in  the  person  of  the  sovereign.  The 
least  division  works  great  evils.  .  .  .  The  prince  can- 
not allow  his  authority  to  be  shared  by  others,  with- 
out making  himself  responsible  for  the  infinite  disor- 
ders which  ensue.  .  .  .  To  receive  the  law  from  his 
people  is  the  worst  calamity  that  can  befall  one  of  our 
rank.  The  will  of  God  is  that  he  who  is  born  a  sub- 
ject should  obey  and  make  no  question."  ^ 

Such  was  the  theory  of  the  master,  and'  such  was 
also  the  belief  of  his  subjects.  The  bodies  which  still 
possessed  any  independent  power  naturally  sought  to 
preserve  it,  but  the  nation  as  a  whole  was  content  with 
the  administration  of  Louis  XIV.  The  misfortunes 
of  his  later  years  caused  some  grumbling,  but  a  desire 
that  the  nation  should  take  a  more  active  part  in  its 
own  government  hardly  found  articulate  utterance. 
The  people  did  not  enjoy  political  freedom,  and  they 
felt  no  regret  at  the  deprivation.  The  French  boasted 
of  their  loyalty  to  their  sovereign,  and  viewed  with 
horror  rebellion  and  regicide  among  the  English.  At 
the  close  of  Louis's  reign,  one  might  well  have  thought 
that  the  system  of  government  which  he  had  per- 
fected was  destined  to  a  long  duration.  Certainly, 
there  was  little  to  indicate  the  rapid  change  in  senti- 
ments and  beliefs  of  the  next  seventy  years. 

Yet  the  monarch  had  unwittingly  done  much  to 
excite  this  intellectual  revolution.  The  difference  in 
religious  sentiment  is  one  of  the  marked  distinctions 
between  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  centuries 
in  France.  The  seventeenth  century  was  an  age  of 
faith.  Great  preachers  flourished.  New  religious 
orders  were  organized.  The  older  orders  of  the  church 
^  (Euvres  de  Louis  XIV.,  t.  i.  59  et  passim. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         321 

developed  new  life  and  new  activity.  The  Jesuits,  the 
Jansenists,  the  members  of  the  Oratory,  the  preachers 
of  the  Mission,  the  disciples  of  the  Port  Royal,  all 
worked  for  the  cause  of  Christianity.  The  charities  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  and  the  austerities  of  La  Trappe 
were  alike  manifestations  of  a  sense  of  religious 
responsibility. 

Such  an  era,  characterized  by  a  broad-minded 
charity  and  by  an  active  zeal  in  good  works,  was  fol- 
lowed within  a  century  by  a  great  increase  of  infidel- 
ity. This  result  was  largely  due  to  the  measures  of 
Louis  XIV.  and  of  his  religious  advisers  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  reign.  Bigotry  and  persecution  be- 
came the  recognized  manifestations  of  Christian  zeal. 
An  epoch  of  self-sacrifice,  of  pity  for  man's  physical 
woes  and  zeal  for  his  spiritual  enlightenment,  was 
succeeded  by  one  where  the  narrowest  conception  of 
religion  was  extolled,  and  the  slightest  deviation  from 
it  was  punished. 

The  Huguenots,  who  were  an  important  element  in 
French  religious  life,  were  obliged  either  to  leave 
France,  or  to  live  in  a  condition  of  half-disguised 
hypocrisy.  The  vigorous  intellects  of  the  Jansenists 
were  exposed  to  a  long  persecution,  from  which  their 
pure  morals  did  not  save  them.  By  the  endeavors  to 
compel  an  acceptance  of  the  bull  Unigenitus,  Louis 
and  Le  Tellier  left  behind  them  a  heritage  of  strife. 
The  king  was  little  versed  in  such  questions,  and  his 
zeal  was  measured  by  his  ignorance.  His  writings 
show  the  nervous  apprehension  of  Jansenism  which 
his  Jesuit  confessors  had  instilled  into  him.  The 
Duke  of  Orleans  claimed  that  when  he  wished  to  take 
an  officer  with  him  to  Spain,  the  king  at  once  pro- 
tested and  declared  that  the  man  was  a  Jansenist. 


322         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

"  He  cannot  be  that,"  rejoined  the  duke,  "  for  he  does 
not  believe  in  a  God  at  all."  "  That  I  did  not  know," 
said  the  monarch,  and  no  further  objection  was  made.^ 
Even  if  the  incident  was  colored  by  the  malice  of  Or- 
leans, the  king's  ignorance  and  bigotry  in  religious 
matters  do  not  require  anecdotes  to  illustrate  them. 

The  devotional  zeal  which  was  assumed  by  the 
courtiers,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  reign,  was  in 
many  cases  only  a  cloak  by  which  to  advance  their 
interests,  or  to  avoid  the  royal  disapproval.  Alike  the 
king,  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  and  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy favored  the  employment  of  those  who  made 
loud  professions  of  religious  zeal.  They  sowed  for- 
malism to  reap  hypocrisy.  The  bigotry  and  the  per- 
secutions of  Louis  XIV.  were  succeeded  by  the  license 
and  the  infidelity  of  the  regency  ;  they  prepared  the 
way  for  the  revolt  against  religious  belief  which  char- 
acterized the  eighteenth  century  in  France.  Vincent 
de  Paul  and  St.  Cyran  had  been  succeeded  by  Bossuet 
and  Pascal ;  La  Chaise  and  Le  Tellier  were  followed 
by  Voltaire  and  Diderot. 

The  age  of  Louis  XIV.  already  seems  remote,  and 
we  imagine  it  to  be  free  from  many  of  the  grievances 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  study  of  the  past 
shows  the  existence  of  most  of  the  evils  which  are 
deemed  peculiar  to  the  present.  The  stately  halls  of 
Versailles,  the  life  of  Paris  when  Racine  wrote  and 
Bourdaloue  preached,  seem  removed  from  the  vulgar 
ills  of  the  present.  But  the  same  complaints  were 
raised,  and  with  as  much  foundation.  The  desire  for 
gain  was  quite  as  strong.  Money,  it  was  said,  made 
all  equal.  The  valet,  who  had  jobbed  in  government 
contracts  with  good  fortune,  chatted  familiarly  with 
1  Related  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  St.  Simon. 


CLOSE   OF  REIGN  OF  LOUIS  XIV.         323 

the  duke,  and  found  all  doors  open  to  the  parvenu 
who  was  sufficiently  rich.^  The  poor  no  longer  showed 
a  respectful  courtesy  to  those  of  rank,  but  were  sullen 
and  bold.^  Children  had  forgotten  the  reverence  due 
their  parents ;  a  good  servant  was  a  treasure  that 
could  rarely  be  found. ^  The  social  evils  which  we 
believe  to  be  new  are  usually  very  old.  We  may 
reflect  with  gratitude,  that  for  many  of  the  blessings 
which  we  now  enjoy,  one  would  search  in  vain  in  the 
age  of  Louis  XIV. ;  that  thought  is  freer  and  educa- 
tion more  general,  labor  is  better  paid  and  comfort 
more  widespread,  than  when  the  great  monarch  took 
his  daily  walk  in  the  gardens  of  Versailles. 

1  Souvenirs  serieux  et  comiques,  1708,  pp.  178,  179. 

2  Lettres  d^un  Sicilien. 

*  Cited  in  Babeau,  Les  artisans  d^ autrefois. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   REGENCY, 
1715. 

The  monarchical  feeling  was  strong  among  the 
French,  but  it  extended  only  to  living  sovereigns.  It 
was  the  personal  embodiment  of  royalty  for  which 
the  people  entertained  respect  and  affection.  No  na- 
tion showed  less  regard  for  its  rulers  when  the  breath 
was  out  of  their  bodies.  To  this  Louis  XIV.  was  no 
exception.  His  death  excited  no  regret  among  his 
subjects,  and  his  obsequies  received  no  attention.  The 
heart  of  the  monarch  was  deposited  with  the  Jesuits, 
who  claimed  its  custody  in  death,  as  they  had  pos- 
sessed it  in  life.  Not  half  a  dozen  of  all  his  court 
were  sufficiently  interested  to  attend  the  ceremony. 
When  his  remains  were  taken  to  their  resting-place 
at  St.  Denis,  they  received  scanty  marks  of  respect. 
Where  the  funeral  cortege  was  not  the  object  of  in- 
sult, the  people  viewed  it  with  indifference.  Louis's 
death  was  the  signal  for  the  appearance  of  numerous 
satirical  verses,  which  were  bitter  beyond  precedent.^ 
"  Our  eyes  were  too  full  of  tears  during  his  life  to 
have  any  left  for  his  death,"  said  one,  while  another 

1  The  heart  of  the  king  was  given  to  the  Jesuits,  and  his  en- 
trails were  buried  at  Notre  Dame. 

"  A  St.  Denis,  comme  h  Versailles, 
II  est  sans  coeur  et  sans  entrailles," 
wrote  one  libelist. 


THE   REGENCY.  325 

declared  that,  however  cruel  and  heartless  the  king 
had  been  in  his  lifetime,  he  had  imitated  the  Messiah 
in  dying  for  the  good  of  the  world.  Thirty  funeral 
orations  preserved  at  the  National  Library,  all  of 
which  describe  with  eloquence  the  virtues  and  achieve- 
ments of  Louis  the  Great,  do  not  offset  these  lam- 
poons as  indications  of  popular  feeling. 

When  so  little  respect  was  paid  to  the  obsequies  of 
the  king,  it  was  unlikely  that  his  last  wishes  should 
be  regarded.  Louis  XIV.  left  a  will,  solemnly  de- 
posited in  the  custody  of  the  Parliament,  by  which 
he  sought  to  regulate  the  government  during  the  mi- 
nority of  his  successor.  There  were  many  reasons 
which  led  him  to  regard  this  period  with  special  so- 
licitude. Louis  XV.  was  but  five  years  of  age  when 
he  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  an  old  man  of  seventy- 
seven.  His  minority  would  continue  for  eight  years, 
and,  though  upon  completing  his  thirteenth  year  a 
king  of  France  was  by  law  supposed  to  assume  the 
control  of  the  state,  it  was  impossible  that  he  should 
become  his  own  master  at  so  immature  an  age.  The 
disturbances  in  which  France  had  been  involved  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  Louis  XIV.  suggested  the  pos- 
sibilities which  might  be  in  store  for  his  successor. 
Even  if  the  altered  condition  of  the  country  rendered 
unlikely  any  recurrence  of  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde, 
Louis  was  desirous  of  the  continuance  of  the  policy 
and  the  principles  which  he  had  adopted. 

The  person  who  was  entitled  to  the  office  of  regent 
during  the  minority  that  was  soon  to  begin  did  not 
enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  king,  and  was  an  object  of 
aversion  to  almost  all  of  those  by  whom  the  monarch 
was  surrounded.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  was  nephew 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  the 


326  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

treaty  of  Utrecht  he  now  stood  next  to  the  dauphin 
in  the  line  of  succession.  The  mother  of  Louis  XV. 
was  dead,  and  the  position  of  regent  belonged  to  his 
nearest  male  relative.  No  edict  or  statute  so  declared, 
but  such  was  deemed  to  be  the  well-established  po- 
litical tradition.  It  rested,  indeed,  on  scanty  pre- 
cedent. There  had  been  three  minorities  during  the 
last  two  hundred  years,  but  in  each  case  the  regency 
had  been  intrusted  to  the  mother  of  the  king.  It 
was  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  period  of  the  Eng- 
lish wars  to  find  this  authority  claimed  as  a  matter  of 
right  by  the  first  prince  of  the  blood.  But  the  growth 
of  strict  monarchical  theories,  by  which  the  throne 
was  held  to  descend  in  the  royal  family  according  to 
the  rules  of  primogeniture,  and  in  conformance  with 
divine  law,  seemed  by  analogy  to  secure  the  control 
of  the  state  during  a  minority  to  the  prince  next  in 
succession.  Louis  XIV.  was  the  last  man  to  seek  to 
interfere  with  such  principles,  even  if  the  rights  se- 
cured by  them  devolved  upon  a  person  whom  he  did 
not  regard  with  favor. 

The  nearest  relative  of  Louis  XV.  was  his  uncle, 
Philip  V.  of  Spain.  Had  Philip  remained  Duke  of 
Anjou,  his  right  to  the  regency  would  have  been  be- 
yond question.  His  grandfather  regarded  him  with 
tender  affection,  and  his  desire  for  an  intimate  union 
between  the  French  and  Spanish  peoples  would  have 
been  gratified  if  their  policy  for  a  number  of  years 
could  have  been  directed  by  the  same  person.  But 
the  allies  during  the  late  war,  in  order  to  guard 
against  the  possible  union  of  the  two  thrones,  had  in- 
sisted that  Philip  should  renounce  all  his  rights  as  a 
French  prince.  This  had  been  one  of  the  conditions 
of  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  and  had  been  embodied  in 


THE   REGENCY.  327 

the  provisions  of  that  treaty.  It  was  with  reluctance 
that  Louis  consented  to  this  sacrifice,  but  he  had 
agreed  to  it,  and  he  had  compelled  his  grandson  to 
execute  the  renunciation  with  all  the  required  formali- 
ties. Though  Philip  had  not  dared  to  disobey  his 
grandfather's  commands,  he  was  as  faithless  to  this 
engagement  as  he  was  to  all  engagements.  In  dupli- 
city, Philip  V.  was  as  far  the  superior  of  Louis  XIV. 
as  he  was  his  inferior  in  every  kingly  quality.  Indeed, 
the  extent  of  falseness  of  which  he  was  capable  is 
surprising,  when  we  consider  how  limited  was  his 
intelligence. 

The  ink  was  hardly  dry  upon  the  treaty  which  se- 
cured Philip  his  crown,  when  he  endeavored  to  induce 
his  grandfather  to  violate  its  conditions.  The  Spanish 
ambassador  at  Paris  was  instructed  that,  as  the  renun- 
ciations had  not  been  freely  executed,  his  Catholic 
Majesty  felt  that  it  was  perfectly  proper  to  disre- 
gard them.^  In  conformity  with  these  directions,  the 
Cardinal  del  Judice  labored  with  Torcy,  the  French 
foreign  minister,  to  have  Philip  named  by  Louis  as 
regent  of  France  during  the  minority  which,  in  all 
probability,  would  soon  begin.  Torcy,  apparently, 
was  not  averse  to  such  a  step,  but  it  met  with  an  in- 
surmountable obstacle  in  Louis  XIV.'s  resolution  to 
keep  faith  with  the  allies,  and  to  save  his  country 
from  the  possibility  of  another  war.  In  this,  as  in  all 
he  did  in  reference  to  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  Louis 
acted  with  firmness,  with  wisdom,  and  with  the  utmost 
good  faith.  The  choice  of  Philip  as  regent  of  France 
would  have  excited  the  apprehensions  which  had  been 

1  Grimaldo  to  Judice,  May  23,  1714.  I  owe  the  letters  now 
contained  in  the  Spanish  archives  to  the  learned  and  able  work 
of  M.  Baudrillart,  Philippe  V.  et  la  Cour  de  France, 


328    FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY 

allayed  by  his  renunciation,  and  would  probably  have 
again  arrayed  England,  Holland,  and  Austria  in  arms 
against  France.  The  Spanish  minister  was  informed 
that  Louis  was  resolved  to  observe  the  terms  of  the 
treaty,  to  preserve  peace,  and  to  avoid  any  pretext  for 
a  rupture.^ 

While  the  king  felt  that  his  plighted  faith  and  the 
welfare  of  his  people  excluded  Philip  from  the  re- 
gency, and  that  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  therefore 
entitled  to  it  by  right  of  birth,  he  desired  so  to  restrict 
his  authority  that  the  policy  of  the  state  shoidd  remain 
unchanged.  Orleans's  character  and  career  were  such 
as  to  justify,  to  some  extent,  the  distrust  with  which 
he  was  regarded  by  his  uncle.  Philip,  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, was  now  forty  years  of  age.  His  father,  the 
younger  brother  of  Louis  XIV.,  had  been  a  man  de- 
void of  capacity  and  destitute  of  ambition ;  effeminate 
in  appearance  and  character ;  whose  existence  was  a 
nullity,  except  as  it  was  varied  by  weak  and  despicable 
vices.  The  duke's  mother  was  a  German  princess  by 
birth,  and  she  always  remained  German  at  heart. 
Fifty  years  of  life  in  France  did  not  acclimate  her  to 
the  atmosphere  of  Versailles.  She  had  an  acute  mind, 
good  morals,  bad  manners,  and  a  vulgar  tongue.  Her 
only  son,  the  future  regent,  was  even  further  removed 
in  thought  and  demeanor  from  the  stately  graces,  the 
decorous  conduct,  the  conservative  views,  of  those  by 
whom  Louis  XIV.  was  surrounded.  In  intelligence, 
in  mental  vigor,  he  was  an  extraordinary  man,  but  he 
lacked  the  power  of  concentrating  his  abilities  upon  a 

1  Judice  to  Philip,  July  3,  1714  ;  Torcy  to  Ursins,  July  2, 
1714  ;  Louis  to  Philip,  August  23,  1714  ;  Louis  to  Iberville, 
August  22,  1714.  "I  shall  not  make. the  least  change  in  the 
solemn  renunciation  of  my  grandson." 


THE  REGENCY.  329 

serious  purpose.  His  mother  said  that  he  had  every 
talent  except  that  of  making  his  talents  of  use.  He 
was  a  good  musician  and  composed  some  pretty  operas ; 
he  painted  well;  he  was  a  competent  officer;  he  was  a 
good  speaker ;  there  were  few  branches  of  learning 
with  which  he  had  not  at  least  a  superficial  acquaint- 
ance.  His  tastes  led  him  to  one  class  of  studies, 
which  had  much  to  do  with  the  evil  reputation  from 
which  he  suffered  during  life.  He  had  a  fondness 
for  chemistry,  and  amused  himself  by  indulging  in  the 
experiments  which  still  allured  the  students  of  that 
science.  It  was  said  that  the  duke  and  a  craftsman 
of  great  repute  were  engaged  in  endeavors  to  make 
gold ;  that  he  had  a  glass  of  some  liquor  in  which  he 
could  see  future  events ;  that  he  and  his  assistants  often 
labored  day  and  night  in  the  great  laboratory  which 
he  had  built,  occupied  in  repeated,  though  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  evoke  the  Devil,  and  to  get  on  speaking 
terms  with  him.^  This  was  very  harmless  trifling,  but 
it  was  enough  to  excite  suspicion  in  a  community 
where  many  still  cherished  a  lingering  belief  in  magic 
potions  and  black  arts,  and  similar  nonsense. 

Orleans  was  earl}^  married  to  his  cousin,  one  of  the 
illegitimate  daughters  of  Louis  XI Y.  She  had  little 
to  make  her  attractive,  and  the  marriage  was  con- 
tracted merely  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  the  king.  The 
young  duke  may  have  consented  to  the  alliance  from 
a  politic  desire  to  gain  favor  with  the  monarch,  but 
his  subsequent  conduct  rendered  the  sacrifice  of  no 
avail.  He  plunged  into  dissipation  of  every  kind,  and 
he  had  the  weakness,  not  uncommon  with  young  men, 
of  wishing  to  be  thought  more  wicked  than  he  was. 
"  My  nephew  is  a  braggadocio  of  vice,"  said  Louis 
1  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  iv.  459,  462  ;  ix.  262  et  pas. 


330         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

XIV.  He  was  bad  enough,  without  any  need  of  brag- 
ging: he  drank  too  much;  he  had  numerous  mistresses 
and  many  illegitimate  children  ;  he  was  loud-spoken  in 
his  professions  of  infidelity.  He  cherished  a  hopeless 
admiration  for  the  grand  prior  of  France,  who  during 
forty  years  had  never  been  to  bed  sober.^  He  felt  for 
him,  says  St.  Simon,  the  veneration  that  a  bishop  has 
for  a  father  of  the  church. 

Such  conduct  was  distasteful  to  the  king,  and  was 
little  relished  by  the  community.  In  1712,  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  his  wife,  and  his  infant  son  died  suddenly 
within  a  few  days  of  each  other.  Appalled  by  such  a 
series  of  calamities,  the  public  insisted  that  they  were 
due  to  foul  play,  and  the  voice  of  calumny  at  once  de- 
clared the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  be  the  guilty  man.  He 
had  been  using  his  secret  arts,  his  poisonous  drugs, 
his  noxious  philters,  to  clear  the  way  for  himself  to  the 
throne ;  he  was  already  near  it,  and  a  few  more  mur- 
ders would  make  him  king  of  France.  He  was  hooted  at 
in  the  streets  when  he  attended  the  funeral  of  the  dau- 
phin. "  See  the  murderer  !  "  was  heard  from  every  side. 

There  was  not  an  iota  of  evidence  to  sustain  these 
charges.  No  one  now  doubts  that  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy and  his  son  died  from  natural  causes.  Orleans 
was  a  profligate,  but  he  was  as  incapable  of  gaining 
a  throne  by  murder  as  Fenelon  or  D'Aguesseau.  He 
was  not  a  man  of  violent  ambition,  and  while  his  char- 
acter was  weak,  it  was  not  criminal.  He  had  no  af- 
finity with  a  Richard  III.  If  he  had  really  been  the 
bloodthirsty  fiend  that  he  was  declared  to  be,  he  would 
not  have  stayed  his  hand  when  only  the  life  of  Louis 

XV.  was  between  him  and  the  throne,  and  when  his 
position  as  regent  made  it  easy  to  remove  the  last  ob- 
stacle from  the  way. 

1  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  xi.  178. 


THE  REGENCY.  331 

With  hiwS  usual  good  judgment,  Louis  XIV.  at  once 
recognized  the  lack  of  any  foundation  for  these  atro- 
cious calumnies,  and  he  gave  them  no  credence.  But  a 
lack  of  proof  rarely  interferes  with  the  greedy  accept- 
ance of  such  scandals  by  the  multitude.  A  goodly  pro- 
portion of  the  Parisian  public  believed  that  Orleans  had 
murdered  the  young  princes.  Whenever  Louis  XV. 
was  sick  during  the  regency,  many  at  once  began  to 
shake  their  heads,  and  to  say  that  the  regent  was  again 
at  work  with  his  philters  ;  the  name  of  poisoner  always 
appeared  in  the  libels  with  which  he  was  attacked,^ 

The  courtiers  at  Versailles  for  the  most  part  adopted 
the  opinion  of  the  Paris  bourgeoisie.  Even  those  who 
did  not  believe  the  charges  avoided  any  intercourse 
with  one  who  was  under  the  ban  of  public  disapproval. 
He  was  shunned  in  the  royal  salon  ;  if  he  approached 
a  group  of  courtiers,  one  after  another  slipped  away, 
until  he  found  himself  alone.^ 

It  illustrates  Louis  XIV. 's  tenacity  in  following 
what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty  that  neither  the  calum- 
nies with  which  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  assailed, 
nor  the  hatred  felt  towards  him  by  those  nearest  the 
king,  nor  the  distrust  of  his  character  and  his  pur- 
poses entertained  by  the  monarch  himself,  induced 
him  to  nominate  any  one  else  as  regent.  He  regarded 
that  office  as  due  to  Orleans  by  virtue  of  his  birth  and 

^  When  the  young  Louis  XV.  was  taken  to  Versailles,  in  1722, 
one  man  was  put  in  the  Bastille  for  saying  that  they  would  take 
the  king  to  Versailles  and  from  there  to  St.  Denis.  "  He  will 
never  return,"  said  many  of  the  spectators  of  his  departure. 
—  Journal  de  Marais,  ii.  288,  298.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy  and 
his  oldest  son  had  died  at  Versailles.  "  The  regent  wishes  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  place,"  wrote  one  chronicler  when  Louis  XV. 
w^s  taken  there. 

2  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  ix.  272. 


332         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

as  a  result  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht, 
and  nothing  could  lead  him  to  deprive  his  nephew  of 
his  rights.  On  the  other  hand,  an  endeavor  to  re- 
strict the  authority  of  a  man  whom  he  mistrusted  was 
natural,  and  was  not  reprehensible.  He  might  well 
have  doubted  whether  the  effort  would  be  successful. 
Ilis  father,  Louis  XIII.,  had  endeavored  to  limit  the 
power  of  his  wife  as  regent  of  the  kingdom.  The  pro- 
visions of  his  will  had  been  contemptuously  swept  away. 
Three  quarters  of  a  century  had  passed  since  then  ;  the 
authority  of  a  live  king  had  increased,  but  it  was  soon 
shown  that  the  wishes  of  a  dead  king  were  no  more 
respected  than  in  the  past.  This  disregard  illustrated 
the  difference  between  France  and  Spain.  The  French 
reverenced  monarchy,  but  their  reverence  ceased  at  the 
tomb.  However  potent  a  king  was  at  Versailles,  he 
was  only  dust  and  ashes  at  St.  Denis.  But  in  Spain, 
when  even  the  imbecile  Charles  II.  named  a  successor 
by  his  wiU,  his  choice  was  respected  by  the  nation ; 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  could  rule  spirits  from  their 
urns. 

At  all  events,  Louis  attempted  to  exercise  after  his 
death  the  authority  which  had  been  so  absolute  during 
his  life.  By  his  will,  executed  in  August,  1714,  a 
council  of  regency  was  appointed,  which  was  vested 
with  the  decision  of  all  questions  of  importance  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  Louis  XV.  In  this  council  Or- 
leans had  but  one  vote.  The  sentiments  of  the  mem- 
bers named  by  the  will  were  well  known,  and  they 
could  be  relied  on  to  continue  the  policy  of  their  late 
master.  In  another  respect  the  authority  of  the  fu- 
ture regent  was  curtailed.  The  Duke  of  Maine  was 
charged  with  the  education  of  the  young  Louis  XV., 
and  he  was  given  the  command  of  the  military  forces 


THE  REGENCY.  333 

attached  to  the  person  of  the  king.^  This  choice  was 
dictated  as  much,  perhaps,  by  affection  for  Maine  as 
by  distrust  of  Orleans.  0£  all  the  children  of  Louis 
XIV.,  the  Duke  of  Maine  was  most  dear  to  his 
father.  He  was  regarded  with  equal  affection  by 
Mme.  de  Maintenon.  She  had  been  his  governess, 
and  she  labored  for  his  advancement  with  all  the  zeal 
which  she  could  have  shown  for  a  son  of  her  own. 
Honors  of  every  sort  were  lavished  upon  this  favorite 
child.  He  had  received  the  rank  of  a  prince  of  the 
blood  ;  he  had  been  declared  capable  of  inheriting  the 
throne  on  the  failure  of  legitimate  heirs ;  he  was  now 
given  a  position  which  was  hardly  inferior  to  that  of 
the  regent. 

On  Louis's  deathbed,  he  assured  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans that  there  was  nothing  in  his  will  which  inter- 
fered with  the  rights  secured  to  him  by  his  birth.  In 
saying  this,  he  was  undoubtedly  sincere.  He  had  not 
endeavored  to  deprive  his  nephew  of  the  office  of  re- 
gent ;  the  restrictions  which  he  had  imposed  he  per- 
haps hoped  would  be  cheerfully  accepted.  Notwith- 
standing the  secrecy  with  which  the  provisions  of  the 
will  had  been  surrounded,  their  general  nature  became 
known  to  Orleans.  The  future  regent  resolved  that 
he  would  exercise  the  full  authority  of  the  office,  and 
he  made  his  plans  to  sweep  away  all  the  restrictions 
that  had  been  devised.  He  was  not  a  man  greedy  for 
power,  but  he  was  persistent  in  the  pursuit  of  what  he 
regarded  as  his  just  rights.  Those  whom  Louis  had 
chosen  for  the  council  of  regency  had  little  sympathy 

1  The  will  and  codicils  are  found  in  Dumont,  Corps  Dip.,  viii. 
434  et  seq.  In  the  will  Louis  did  not  appoint  Orleans  regent. 
He  was  regarded  as  succeeding  to  that  office  by  virtue  of  his 
birth. 


834    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

with  the  regent ;  the  Duke  of  Maine,  who  was  vested 
with  a  great  authority,  was  his  personal  enemy.  Or- 
leans felt  that  with  his  power  thus  curtailed,  lie  would 
be  no  more  than  a  figurehead.  His  position  in  the 
community  had  improved  during  the  three  years  which 
had  elapsed  since  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 
The  accusations  then  heaped  upon  him  were  no  longer 
repeated,  even  if  they  were  not  forgotten.  For  some 
time  it  had  been  certain  that  he  would  be  regent  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  Louis  XV.,  and  ambitious  men 
began  to  treat  him  with  deference.  Many  of  those 
who  were  closely  allied  with  the  court  of  the  old  king 
were  induced  by  visions  of  future  favor  to  promise 
their  assistance  to  the  new  ruler.  Some  of  his  friends 
advised  him  to  summon  the  States  General,  and  to  ask 
from  the  representatives  of  the  nation  at  large  the 
untrammeled  authority  which  he  claimed  as  his  right. 
The  more  prudent  feared  to  convene  a  body  which 
had  not  met  for  a  century,  and  which,  once  in  session, 
might  prove  a  new  and  dangerous  factor  in  politics. 

If  precedent  were  to  be  regarded,  the  authority  to 
designate  a  regent,  and  to  annul  the  will  of  a  king, 
rested  in  the  Parliament  of  Paris.  When  Henry  IV. 
was  murdered,  the  Parliament  met  and  declared  Mary 
de  Medici  regent.  When  Louis  XIII.  died,  the  Par- 
liament set  aside  the  provisions  of  his  will,  and  de- 
clared the  regency  to  be  vested  in  Anne  of  Austria, 
free  from  the  restrictions  which  her  husband  had 
sought  to  impose.  It  was  anomalous  that  such  a  power 
should  be  vested  in  a  judicial  body,  but  it  had  been 
claimed,  it  had  been  exercised,  and  it  had  been  re- 
spected. It  could  even  be  urged  that  Louis  XIV. 
had  himself  recognized  this  right  of  the  Parliament, 
for  his  will  had  been  solemnly  confided  to  its  custody. 


THE  REGENCY.  835 

Orleans  resolved,  therefore,  that  he  would  demand  from 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  the  abrogation  of  any  pro- 
visions by  which  his  power  as  regent  was  restricted. 
Various  endeavors  were  made  to  obtain  the  good-will 
of  influential  members,  but  the  most  alluring  bribe 
was  the  assurance  that  the  court  should  again  be 
vested  with  the  political  authority  which  it  had  been 
the  constant  effort  of  Louis  XIV.  to  destroy.  It  was 
easy  to  induce  judges  to  disregard  the  last  commands 
of  a  master  who  had  repressed  their  independence, 
and  had  overthrown  their  most  cherished  privileges. 

At  seven  in  the  morning  of  September  2,  the  day 
succeeding  Louis's  death,  the  Parliament  met  to  hear 
the  reading  of  his  will,  and  to  consider  the  question  of 
the  regency.  The  spectacle  presented  by  the  body 
thus  solemnly  convened  was  an  imposing  one.  There 
were  present  the  members  of  the  various  courts  com- 
posing the  Parliament  of  Paris,  a  tribunal  which  in 
dignity  and  importance  was  excelled  by  no  other,  and 
which  was  equaled  only  by  the  English  House  of 
Lords.  They  sat  together,  arra5^ed  in  the  stately  scar- 
let robes  which  marked  their  dignity.  On  the  higher 
rows  of  seats,  reserved  for  those  of  the  most  elevated 
rank,  were  the  princes  of  the  blood,  the  peers  of 
France,  the  marshals  of  the  kingdom.  There  could 
be  seen  the  representatives  of  many  of  the  great 
names  of  French  history,  —  Condes  and  Sullys,  Eoche- 
foucaulds  and  Luxembourgs.  Among  those  assem- 
bled were  the  Marshal  of  Villars  and  the  Marshal  of 
Berwick,  the  greatest  of  French  soldiers  ;  D'Agues- 
seau,  the  greatest  of  French  jurists ;  and  Harcourt, 
the  most  famous  of  French  diplomats.  The  Duke  of 
Maine,  the  favorite  son  of  the  late  king,  was  present, 
exultant  in  the  authority  secured  to  him  by  the  will, 


836  FRANCE   UNDER    THE   REGENCY. 

whose  contents  were  soon  to  be  made  known.  The 
Duke  of  Orleans  was  also  present,  confident  in  his 
own  address  and  in  the  promises  of  support  which  he 
had  obtained.  The  results  of  the  session  were  watched 
with  interest  by  a  great  body  of  spectators.  From  a 
retired  seat  the  English  ambassador  witnessed  the 
procedure  of  a  body  which  resembled  the  English 
Parliament  in  name,  but  differed  widely  from  it  in 
constitution. 

The  proceedings  began  with  one  of  the  customary 
disputes  over  a  question  of  etiquette.  When  this 
was  quieted,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  addressed  the  body 
and  claimed  for  himself,  by  virtue  of  his  birth,  the 
inalienable  right  to  act  as  regent  of  the  realm,  un- 
trammeled  by  restrictions.  Anticipating  the  restraints 
that  might  have  been  imposed  by  the  will,  he  declared 
that  the  late  king  had  told  him  that  if  any  of  its 
provisions  were  found  to  be  injudicious,  they  could 
be  changed  as  should  seem  expedient.  There  was 
some  question  of  declaring  Orleans  regent  forthwith, 
without  even  listening  to  the  instrument  by  which 
Louis  XIV.  sought  to  provide  for  the  government 
of  his  kingdom.  At  last,  however,  the  will  was 
solemnly  brought  from  its  resting-place.  An  official 
proceeded  to  read  its  lengthy  provisions,  which  the 
king  had  laboriously  prepared  in  his  own  handwrit- 
ing.^ They  were  listened  to  with  indifference.  When 
the  reading  was  completed,  Orleans  again  addressed 
the  court.  The  restrictions  of  the  will  he  brushed 
lightly  away.  He  was  willing  to  be  restrained  from 
doing  evil,  he  said,  but  he  must  be  free  to  do  good. 

^  "  Sept  ou  huit  pages  de  la  propre  main  du  roi  et  assez  mal 
dcrites,"  says  an  advocate  of  the  Parliament,  who  doubtless  ex- 
amined  the  will. — Journal  de  Marais,  September  2,  1715. 


THE  REGENCY.  337 

As  proofs  of  such  a  desire,  he  announced  his  resolu- 
tion to  replace  the  despotic  power  of  the  secretaries 
of  state  by  various  councils,  —  a  plan  which  he  judi- 
ciously attributed  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whose 
memory  was  dear  to  all.  What  was  yet  more  to 
the  purpose,  he  stated  his  intention  to  restore  to  the 
Parliament  its  ancient  right  of  remonstrance  when 
royal  edicts  were  presented  for  registration.  This 
announcement  was  received  with  applause.  None  of 
its  judicial  functions  were  so  dear  to  the  Parliament 
as  the  right  to  remonstrate  with  the  king  concerning 
the  laws  which  he  sent  to  his  courts  to  be  registered 
and  enforced.  It  was  a  right  which  they  had  long 
possessed,  which  they  had  always  sought  to  extend, 
and  of  which  for  almost  half  a  century  they  had  been 
deprived.^ 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  was  declared  by  acclamation 
regent  of  the  kingdom,  and  vested  with  all  authority 
pertaining  to  that  office.  For  the  time  that  Louis 
XV.  remained  a  minor,  Orleans  was  in  fact  the  king 
of  France.  The  authority  of  a  regent  was  the  au- 
thority of  a  sovereign.  The  Duke  of  Maine  made  an 
ineffectual  effort  to  retain  some  of  the  functions  with 
which  he  was  intrusted  by  the  will.  But  he  was  a 
man  of  inferior  intelligence,  he  spoke  poorly,  and  his 
influence  had  departed  with  the  death  of  his  father. 
The  universal  sentiment  was  in  favor  of  Orleans,  and 
whatever  he  proposed  was  adopted.  He  was  author- 
ized to  choose  the  members  of  the  council  of  regency. 

^  By  Louis  XIV.  the  courts  were  commanded  to  register  an 
edict  when  presented,  without  discussion.  After  registration 
they  were  at  liberty  to  send  remonstrances,  if  they  saw  fit,  but 
to  discuss  a  law  that  had  gone  into  effect  was  an  idle  ceremony. 
—  Declaration^  February  24,  1673,  etc. 


338  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

All  the  restrictions  contaiued  in  the  will  of  the  late 
king  were  annulled.^ 

Thus  the  Duke  of  Orleans  became  ruler  of  the 
kingdom,  with  an  authority  as  untrammeled  as  that 
of  Louis  XIV.  Philip  V.  of  Spain  had  instructed  his 
minister  to  protest  against  any  act  which  deprived 
him  of  his  right  to  act  as  regent.^  He  even  con- 
templated levying  troops,  with  which  to  approach  the 
boundaries  of  France  and  enforce  his  claims.^  No- 
thing was  done.  Philip  was  always  presumptuous  in 
his  plans,  and  impotent  in  their  execution. 

The  new  regent  proceeded  to  make  changes  in  the 
administrative  system  of  government,  from  which 
much  was  hoped,  but  which  proved  to  be  so  ineffectual 
that  they  were  soon  abandoned.  In  conformity  with 
his  promises,  he  organized  numerous  councils,  to  which 
were  confided  the  finances,  the  army,  the  navy,  and 
the  other  great  departments  of  affairs.^  As  he  truly 
said,  this  had  been  one  of  the  projects  favored  by  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy.  It  had  been  devised  by  some  of 
those  in  Burgundy's  confidence,  and  by  this  change 
they  hoped  to  abrogate  the  great  authority  which  had 
been  exercised  by  ministers  like  Colbert  and  Louvois. 

^  The  MS.  report  of  the  proceedings  of  this  session  of  the 
Parliament  is  in  the  Bib.  Nat.  It  has  also  been  printed.  An 
accurate  account  of  the  session  is  given  in  the  journal  of  Ma- 
rais.  It  is  also  reported  in  great  detail  by  the  president  D'Ali- 
gre,  and  by  the  Duke  of  St.  Simon.  The  proceedings  occupied 
the  day,  the  regent  spoke  several  times,  and  separate  votes  were 
taken  on  various  propositions.  I  have  given  the  substance  of 
his  speeches  and  the  result  of  the  session.  The  detail  is  not 
important. 

2  Pouvoir  a  Cellamare,  May  9,  1715. 

2  St.  Aignan  to  Torcy,  August  12,  1715. 

*  Declaration,  September  15,  1715. 


THE  REGENCY.  839 

The  position  of  a  secretary  of  state  had  become  one 
of  large  influence  and  importance.  The  ministers 
who  controlled  the  finances,  the  army,  the  navy,  or 
the  foreign  relations  of  the  kingdom  exercised  a  great 
power,  received  a  great  deal  of  adulation,  and  usually 
acquired  a  great  deal  of  money.  These  positions  were 
intrusted,  with  rare  exceptions,  to  men  sprung  from 
the  middle  classes,  partly  because  such  was  the  royal 
tradition,  and  partly  because  they  were  the  only  per- 
sons fit  for  the  work.  Offices  of  such  dignity,  when 
held  by  men  who  were  regarded  as  upstarts,  excited 
the  jealousy  of  the  aristocracy.  To  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, those  of  the  highest  social  rank  were  content  to 
be  political  nullities,  but  this  abnegation  was  not  uni- 
versal. An  aristocratic  revival  had  been  regarded  as 
the  salvation  of  the  country  by  the  counsellors  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy.  The  peers  of  France,  whose  chief 
functions  were  to  act  as  ornamental  accessories  at  a 
coronation  or  a  bed  of  justice,  dreamed  of  a  restora- 
tion of  the  somewhat  misty  authority  which  had  been 
exercised  by  their  predecessors  in  the  days  of  a  feudal 
monarchy.  Those  of  noble  birth  were  discontented 
because  most  of  the  positions  of  responsibility,  and 
many  of  those  of  profit,  were  filled  by  persons  of  low 
birth;  because  secretaries  of  state,  judges,  superin- 
tendents, and  financiers,  almost  without  exception, 
were  commoners. 

It  was  therefore  resolved  to  vest  the  authority  for- 
merly exercised  by  the  secretaries  of  state  in  councils, 
and  to  choose  the  majority  of  the  members  from  those 
illustrious  by  birth.  This  plan  possessed  the  advan- 
tage that  it  created  a  large  number  of  new  places 
which  the  regent  could  give  away.  He  gained  the 
help  of  many  of  those  whose  aid  he  sought  by  prom- 
ising them  a  seat  in  some  of  the  various  councils. 


840         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

As  an  attempt  at  political  reformation,  it  was  short- 
lived. It  was  subject  to  the  fatal  objection  that  it 
would  not  work.  This  was  partly  because  a  council 
consisting  of  a  number  of  men  is  always  unfit  for  ex- 
ecutive work,  and  is  usually  unfit  for  any  work,  and 
partly  because  most  of  the  members  of  these  councils 
were  incapable  of  doing  anything  under  any  circum- 
stances. The  evils  which  had  resulted  from  vesting 
an  excessive  authority  in  one  man  were  far  exceeded 
by  those  which  resulted  from  dividing  it  among  a 
dozen  men.  These  political  councils  resembled  an 
ordinary  council  of  war :  the  members  met,  they  dis- 
cussed, they  doubted,  and  they  adjourned.  The  inef- 
fectiveness which  is  inherent  in  such  bodies  was  in- 
creased by  the  character  of  the  members.  Some  of 
them  were  taken  from  the  Parliament,  or  were  men 
who  had  experience  in  practical  affairs.  But  the  ma- 
jority were  chosen  from  among  the  great  nobles  of 
the  state.  For  the  most  part  they  were  unwilling  to 
give  the  labor  which  was  required  to  perform  their 
duties,  and  when  they  had  sufficient  industry  they 
did  not  have  sufficient  intelligence.  All  the  habits 
of  their  life,  all  the  traditions  of  their  order,  unfitted 
them  for  practical  work.  They  would  not  condescend 
to  questions  of  detail,  and  attention  to  detail  was  re- 
quired in  order  to  understand  matters  of  importance. 
There  were  exceptions  to  this  inefficiency,  but  as  it 
was  the  natural  result  of  training  and  education,  the 
exceptions  were  few. 

The  Duke  of  St.  Simon  had  been  steadfast  to  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  in  good  fortune  and  in  evil  fortune. 
As  a  reward,  he  possessed  a  considerable  influence 
with  the  regent  at  the  beginning  of  his  administra- 
tion.    He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  for  a  renewal 


THE  REGENCY.  341 

of  the  lost  influence  of  the  aristocracy ;  he  devised  the 
system  of  councils ;  he  foresaw  the  monarchy  totter- 
ing to  its  fall,  unless  it  rested  for  its  main  support  on 
the  peers  of  the  realm.  He  was  in  many  respects  a 
favorable  specimen  of  his  order.  His  character  was 
beyond  reproach ;  he  was  not  greedy  for  money  ;  he 
was  faithful  to  his  marital  relations.  Yet  a  man  more 
useless  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  could  not  have  been 
found  in  the  kingdom.  He  admitted  his  incapacity,  and 
he  gloried  in  it.  He  was  offered  the  chief  position  in 
the  council  of  finance.  He  declined  it,  and  with  good 
reason.  Commerce,  circulation,  exchange,  he  said, 
were  known  to  him  hardly  by  name  ;  he  had  never 
mastered  even  the  first  rules  of  arithmetic;  he  had 
never  taken  charge  of  his  private  estate,  because  he 
knew  that  he  was  incapable.  If  he  had  charge  of  the 
finances,  though  he  might  not  steal  himself,  his  inca- 
pacity and  his  ignorance  would  allow  others  to  play 
riot  in  the  treasury.^  This  was  entirely  true,  and  the 
intellectual  condition  of  this  duke  was  the  normal 
condition  of  most  dukes.  Certainly  it  was  the  privi- 
lege of  a  gentleman  to  be  ignorant,  and  contempt  for 
the  affairs  of  common  people  naturally  resulted  in  a 
lack  of  familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  ordinary  life. 
The  mistake  was  in  a  desire  to  fill  positions  for  which 
they  were  unwilling  to  fit  themselves.  It  was  difficult 
to  choose  a  good  minister  of  finance  from  those  who 
regarded  it  as  beneath  them  to  know  the  rules  of 
arithmetic. 

While  many  of  those  who  found  seats  in  the  coun- 
cils were  indifferent  to  such  matters  as  the  laws  of 
trade,  the  soundness  of  the  currency,  or  the  condition 
of  agriculture,  they  were  intensely  interested  in  ques- 
1  Mem,  de  St.  Simouy  xi.  267,  268. 


342    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

tions  of  etiquette  and  precedence.  Such  controver- 
sies in  French  history  took  the  place  of  struggles  over 
ship  money  and  habeas  corpus  acts  in  the  history  of 
England.  A  contest  had  long  waged  between  the 
dukes  and  the  Parliament.  It  might  not  seem  impor- 
tant, for  the  only  question  was  whether  a  duke  or  a 
president  should  first  take  off  his  hat.  But  if  it  ap- 
pears to  be  a  trivial  matter,  it  was  not  so  regarded. 
Orleans  had  obtained  the  support  of  many  of  the 
dukes  by  promising  to  make  a  decision  in  their  favor. 
The  judges  were  as  tenacious  of  their  pretensions 
as  the  dukes,  and  Orleans  was  loath  to  offend  them. 
He  made  no  decision,  and  the  dispute  waged  for  years 
with  great  virulence.^ 

Another  controversy  of  a  similar  character  resulted 
in  the  entire  disorganization  of  the  council  of  regency. 
Cardinal  Rohan  was  appointed  a  member,  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  entry  of  Cardinal  Dubois.  He  took 
the  precedence  claimed  by  cardinals,  and  seated  him- 
self next  to  the  princes  of  the  blood.  The  regent  sus- 
tained him  in  his  action.  Thereupon  the  marshals 
and  dukes,  fifteen  in  number,  of  whom  the  cardinal 
had  taken  a  precedence  which  they  denied  him,  re- 
fused to  attend  the  council.  The  right  or  the  wrong 
of  the  matter  was  uncertain  then,  and  few  would  deem 
it  worth  while  to  investigate  it  now.  But  it  is  curious 
to  reflect  that  a  body  charged  with  the  most  important 
political  duties  should  practically  have  dissolved,  on 
a  controversy  as  to  the  order  in  which  the  members 

1  Volumes  of  the  Memoires  de  St.  Simon  are  filled  with  discus- 
sions of  the  question  of  the  hat,  and  of  the  other  squabbles  about 
ceremonial.  Less  lengthy  discussions  can  be  found  in  many 
other  contemporary  memoirs,  also  in  the  Registres  du  Parliament 
and  Registres  du  Conseil  de  la  Regence,  MSS.  Bib.  Nat. 


THE  REGENCY.  343 

should  sit  around  the  council  board ;  it  perished,  not 
on  a  question  of  state,  but  on  a  question  of  chairs.^ 

Another  dispute,  while  similar  in  some  of  its  phases, 
deserves  greater  attention,  because  it  illustrates  the 
conception  then  held  of  the  monarchical  office.  The 
favors  which  Louis  XIV.  had  heaped  upon  his  ille- 
gitimate children  were  regarded  with  disapproval. 
He  had  given  to  the  Duke  of  Maine  and  the  Count 
of  Toulouse,  his  sons  by  Mme.  de  Montespan,  prece- 
dence next  to  the  legitimate  princes  of  the  blood  royal. 
This  was  exceedingly  offensive  to  the  nobles  whom 
they  were  thus  enabled  to  precede,  but  the  number  of 
those  who  were  affected  was  not  large.  Another 
measure,  upon  which  Louis  decided,  was  far  more 
serious  in  its  nature.  By  an  edict  issued  in  1714,  the 
princes  were  declared  competent  to  succeed  to  the 
throne  of  France  on  the  failure  of  legitimate  heirs.^ 
It  is  true  that  such  a  failure  was  not  probable,  but  it 
was  by  no  means  impossible.  If  Philip  of  Spain  was 
barred  by  his  renunciation,  the  male  members  of  the 
families  of  Orleans  and  Conde  were  the  only  heirs 
after  Louis  XV.,  and  he  was  a  sickly  child  of  five. 
The  line  of  Bourbon  kings  might  become  extinct,  as 
the  line  of  Valois  kings  had  become  extinct. 

In  what  manner  was  the  divine  right  to  the  throne 
transmitted  ?  Was  it  not  restricted  by  the  laws  of 
God  as  well  as  man  to  those  born  in  lawful  matri- 
mony ?  Could  a  sovereign  confer  this  right  upon  his 
illegitimate  offspring  ?  If  he  could  choose  his  bastard 
children  as  successors  to  the  throne  when  legitimate 

1  It  should  be  said  that  the  council  of  regency  was  in  a  con- 
dition of  decrepitude  when  the  marshals  and  dukes  seceded. 
Their  action  left  it  still  more  shorn  of  authority. 

2  Edict  of  July,  1714. 


344         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

heirs  failed,  could  he  not  choose  any  one  else  whom 
his  affection  or  his  caprice  might  suggest?  If  the 
royal  line  failed,  did  not  the  right  to  select  its  own 
sovereign  revert  to  the  nation  ? 

Such  questions  were  not  allowed  to  be  discussed 
while  Louis  XIV.  lived,  but  after  his  death  they  were 
hotly  debated.  The  friends  of  the  Duke  of  Maine 
could  find  in  the  early  history  of  Gaul  and  France 
abundant  instances  where  the  rights  possessed  by  a 
sovereign  had  passed  to  children  who,  by  no  device  of 
casuistry,  could  be  regarded  as  begotten  in  lawful  mat- 
rimony. His  opponents  replied  that  precedents  found 
in  those  unsettled  times,  when  half  barbarous  kings 
changed  their  wives  almost  as  often  as  they  changed 
their  shirts,  had  no  application  to  a  community  that  was 
civilized  and  Christianized.  Upon  the  institution  of 
marriage,  ordained  by  God,  consecrated  by  the  church, 
society  was  based.  The  rights  of  the  sovereign  were 
great,  but  how  could  it  be  claimed  that  he  had  the 
power  to  regulate  the  succession  in  a  manner  contrary 
to  the  traditions  of  the  state  and  the  laws  of  God  ? 
Was  he  the  absolute  proprietor  of  the  kingdom,  of 
which  he  could  dispose  at  his  will  ?  If  he  could  de- 
clare a  bastard  his  heir,  why  not  a  daughter  or  a 
stranger?  At  all  events,  if  the  sovereign  could  be- 
stow this  right,  the  sovereign  could  take  it  away.  It 
was  not  that  divine  right  to  rule  a  nation,  with  which 
neither  king  nor  people  could  interfere.^ 

1  All  these  arguments,  and  an  infinite  number  beside,  can  be 
found  in  the  innumerable  contemporary  pamphlets  in  which 
these  questions  were  discussed.  See  pamphlets  contained  in 
MSS.,  Journal  de  la  Regenccy  also  Reqmte  des  Princes  du  sang, 
Mem.  de  Monsieur  le  Due  du  Maine,  Maxime  de  droit  et  d'etat, 
Lettres  d^un  Espagnol  a  un  Frampais,  Justifications  de  la  naissance 
legitime  de  Bernard,  petit  fils  de  Charlemagne,  etc.,  etc. 


THE  REGENCY,  345 

Those  who  spoke  in  the  name  of  the  infant  Louis 
XV.  were  hostile  to  the  Duke  of  Maine ;  they  were 
resolved  that  he  should  be  shorn  of  the  enormous  ad- 
vantages which  he  owed  to  the  weakness  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  to  the  intrigues  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon.  In  1717, 
an  edict  in  the  name  of  Louis  XV.  deprived  the  Duke 
of  Maine  and  his  brother  of  the  right  of  succession 
to  the  throne,  which  had  been  bestowed  on  them  by 
Louis  XIV.,  and  declared  that,  if  the  legitimate  line 
failed,  it  would  be  for  the  nation  to  repair  this  mis- 
fortune by  the  wisdom  of  its  choice.^ 

This  measure  was  followed  by  a  degradation  in 
rank,  which  was  accorded  to  the  clamor  of  the  dukes. 
The  Duke  of  Maine  was  deprived  of  the  precedence 
over  those  of  an  earlier  creation  which  had  been 
granted  him  by  his  father.  A  regulation  of  this 
character  would  be  unworthy  of  mention,  were  it  not 
for  the  importance  attached  to  it  at  the  time.  With 
this  was  presented  an  ordinance  seriously  curtailing 
the  power  of  the  Parliament.  The  one  measure  sought 
to  do  away  with  the  check  which  an  ancient  and  im- 
portant body  could  exercise  upon  the  caprice  or  the 
tyranny  of  the  crown  ;  the  other  regulated  the  order 
in  which  a  few  great  nobles  should  be  placed  during 
solemn  ceremonies,  who  should  have  the  highest  seat 
at  the  council,  who  should  first  make  his  bow  to  the 
sovereign.  The  regent,  in  his  remarks  to  the  members 
of  the  council  of  regency,  referred  to  the  edict  which 
regulated  the  precedence  of  the  Duke  of  Maine  as  by 
far  the  more  important  of  the  two.^     Certainly  it  was 

1  Edict  of  July,  1717  ;  Anc.  lois  fran^aises,  xxi.  144. 

2  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  xvi.  20.  St.  Simon  occupies  sixty  pages 
in  describing  the  declaration  and  registration  of  these  edicts. 
The  question  of  the  Duke  of  Maine's  precedence  was  to  him  the 
great  question  of  his  life. 


346         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

so  regarded  by  his  auditors.  One  of  the  dukes  has 
described  the  overpowering  emotions  with  which  he 
heard  read  the  announcement  that  he  was  elevated 
one  place  in  the  order  of  the  peerage  ;  he  tells  us  that 
never  before  nor  since  had  he  experienced  such  ec- 
stasy of  bliss  as  on  that  sweet  day. 

The  attention  of  the  regent  was  not  entirely  ab- 
sorbed by  wrangles  of  this  nature.  He  began  his 
administration  with  a  series  of  liberal  measures  which 
were  in  accordance  with  his  own  character.  If  he 
did  not  persevere  in  all  of  them,  it  was  by  reason  of 
the  indolence  of  his  nature,  and  the  incredible  facility 
with  which  he  allowed  himself  to  be  influenced  by 
others. 

A  large  number  of  prisoners  were  held  in  confine- 
ment under  lettres  de  cachet^  in  other  words,  by  vir- 
tue of  an  arbitrary  order,  without  any  formal  charge. 
The  most  of  those  who  had  been  thus  imprisoned 
during  the  last  years  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign  were 
suspected  of  no  crime  except  that  of  entertaining 
erroneous  views  as  to  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope  and 
the  virtues  of  the  Jesuits.  Their  offenses  were  ten- 
dencies towards  Jansenism,  and  refusals  to  accept  the 
bull  Unigenitus.  The  Jesuits  had  used  their  favor 
without  scruple ;  as  the  mind  of  the  king  became  en- 
feebled by  age,  it  was  easy  to  obtain  an  order  for  the 
arrest  of  any  one  who  gave  offense  to  those  who  con- 
trolled his  conscience  and  his  religious  policy.  A 
crime  against  the  church  was  a  crime  against  the 
state,  and  the  prisons  were  filled  with  religious  of- 
fenders. 

Orleans  ordered  the  release  of  all  those  who  had 
been  confined  on  such  charges;  he  celebrated  his 
assumption  of  power  by  a  humane  and   liberal  jail 


THE  REGENCY.  847 

delivery.  Among  the  cases  investigated  were  dis- 
covered the  instances  of  hardship  which  were  sure  to 
occur  when  arbitrary  arrests  were  allowed,  and  when 
there  was  no  legal  process  to  question  the  grounds 
on  which  men  were  held  in  custody.  Persons  were 
arrested  on  suspicion,  and  remained  in  confinement 
until  their  cases  were  forgotten.  Amongst  those  re- 
leased from  the  Bastille  was  a  man  who  had  been 
incarcerated  thirty-five  years  before,  on  the  day  of 
his  arrival  from  Italy.  He  did  not  know  why  he 
was  arrested,  and  no  one  else  could  tell  why.  He  had 
never  been  examined,  he  had  never  been  presented 
with  any  charges.  Those  who  had  ordered  his  arrest 
were  dead.  Those  who  now  sought  to  investigate  the 
grounds  of  it  decided  that  it  had  probably  been  made 
from  some  mistake.  The  prisoner  declined  to  accept 
the  liberty  which  was  at  last  offered  him.  In  Paris, 
he  said,  he  had  no  acquaintances ;  his  relatives  in  Italy 
were  dead ;  his  property  had  been  divided  among 
heirs  who  had  long  supposed  him  to  be  dead.  He 
asked  that  the  government,  which  had  kept  him  a 
prisoner  for  the  most  of  his  life,  should  take  charge 
of  him  till  his  death.  His  request  was  granted.  He 
was  allowed  such  liberty  in  the  Bastille  as  he  desired, 
and  there  he  remained.^ 

The  regent  showed  the  liberality  of  his  views  on 
religious  questions  by  other  measures.  As  members 
of  the  council  of  religion,  he  selected  the  Cardinal  of 
Noailles,  and  D'Aguesseau,  who  was  soon  afterwards 
made  Chancellor  of  France.  D'Aguesseau  was  al- 
ready renowned  for  learning  and  integrity,  when  he 
was  promoted  to  the  highest  judicial  office  in  the  king- 
dom.    His  fame  rests,  perhaps,  rather  on  his  qualities 

^  Archives  de  la  Bastille^  xii.,  xiii.  ;  Mem.  de  St.  Simon j  xii.  220. 


348  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

as  a  jurist  than  as  a  judge.  In  him,  elevation  of 
character  was  not  accompanied  by  decision  of  charac- 
ter. He  was  accused,  as  Lord  Eldon  was  accused,  of 
a  chronic  incapacity  to  make  up  his  mind.  In  both 
eases,  the  extent  of  their  learning  was  injurious  to 
their  administration  of  justice.  It  is  not  a  common 
malady,  but  when  combined  with  a  timid  and  an  ir- 
resolute mind,  it  may  prove  a  serious  one.^ 

The  choice  of  such  men  for  the  council  of  religion 
showed  that  the  virulent  persecution  of  the  Jansenists 
was  at  an  end  for  the  present.  In  other  ways  the  re- 
gent manifested  his  disapproval  of  the  Jesuits.  More 
than  any  other  man,  Le  TeUier  had  been  responsible 
for  the  narrow  religious  policy  of  the  latter  part  of 
Louis  XIV.'s  reign.  He  had  been  Louis's  confessor, 
and  by  the  king's  will  he  was  chosen  as  confessor  for 
Louis  XV.  Orleans  not  only  refused  to  confirm  this 
choice,  but  Le  TeUier  was  at  once  ordered  to  leave  the 
court.  The  place  of  confessor  was  given  to  the  Abbe 
rieury,  a  man  of  piety  and  learning,  who  had  been 
a  friend  of  Fenelon,  and  whose  ecclesiastical  history 
was  one  of  the  most  creditable  historical  works  of  the 
time. 

The  regent  declared,  with  some  degree  of  ostenta- 
tion, that  the  orthodox  zeal  of  Louis  XIV.  was  not  to 
his  taste.  In  the  rigor  with  which  the  services  of  their 
religion  had  been  forbidden  to  Protestants,  even  the 
chapels  of  the  foreign  ministers  were  narrowly  watched, 

1  The  character  and  the  conduct  of  D' Aguesseau  are  discussed 
in  all  the  contemporary  journals  and  memoirs.  On  the  whole, 
he  lost  in  popular  estimation  by  his  career  as  chancellor.  "  Et 
homo  f actus  est,"  the  wits  said,  when  he  was  induced  to  resume 
the  seals  and  endeavor  to  buoy  up  the  sinking  fortunes  of  Law. 
—  Journal  de  BarhieVf  July  2,  1720. 


THE  REGENCY.  349 

lest  French  citizens  should  obtain  access  to  them 
under  the  guise  of  attaches  to  the  embassy,  and  thus 
enjoy  the  privilege  of  worshiping  God  according  to 
their  own  consciences.^  It  was  a  very  minute  form 
of  persecution.  Complaints  were  soon  made  to  the 
regent  that  French  Protestants  were  attending  ser- 
vices at  these  chapels,  but  such  espionage  was  no 
longer  received  with  favor.  It  was  well  enough  to 
prevent  such  acts  in  the  late  reign,  he  said,  but  at 
present  they  should  try  to  convert  Protestants  by 
reason,  rather  than  by  the  methods  of  1685.^ 

If  the  regent  had  been  advised  by  men  as  liberal 
as  himself,  it  is  possible  that  he  would  have  repealed 
the  odious  measures  of  the  late  king,  and  iallowed  the 
Huguenots  to  live  in  France  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
privileges  secured  to  them  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
The  intolerance  of  Louis  XIV. 's  character  appeared 
in  the  final  act  of  his  life.  In  his  will  he  declared 
that  his  strongest  desire  had  been  to  preserve  the 
purity  of  the  faith,  and  he  exhorted  the  council  of 
regency  to  allow  no  changes  in  the  regulations  which 
he  had  adopted.  Such  a  recommendation  had  little 
weight  with  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  On  the  other  hand, 
Henry  IV.,  by  whom  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  been 
issued,  was,  of  all  his  ancestors,  the  one  whom  the 
regent  most  admired,  and  whom  he  was  most  desirous 
to  imitate.  The  courtier  who  wished  to  please  could 
not  do  better  than  suggest  a  resemblance  between 
Orleans  and  Henry  of  Navarre.  There  was  a  certain 
superficial  similarity  between  the  two  men.  Though 
Henry  never   indulged   in   the  debauchery  in  which 

1  Many  letters  and  reports  on  this  subject  oan  be  found  in  the 
official  correspondence. 

2  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  i.  251. 


350         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Orleans  was  often  plunged,  yet  rigorous  propriety  as 
to  the  relations  of  the  sexes  was  not  a  marked  feature 
in  the  character  of  the  most  popular  of  French  kings. 
Orleans  possessed  an  easy  and  pleasing  address,  an 
affable  presence,  a  happy  facility  of  expression,  in  all 
of  which  he  flattered  himself  that  he  resembled  his 
famous  ancestor.     So  far  as  religious  belief  was  con-  , 
cerned,  their  characters  were  no   more  unlike   than  , 
might  be  accounted   for   by  the  century  which   had  i 
elapsed.     Henry  had  contented  himself  with  a  nomi- 
nal profession  of  the  faith  which  it  was  for  his  in- 
terest to  espouse.     Orleans   lived   in  the  eighteenth 
century;    he  could    avow  an  open   infidelity  without 
forfeiting  his  position,  and  he  could  find  plenty  of 
associates  who  held  the  same  views. 

The  regent  did  not  belong  to  that  lowest  class  of 
debauchees  who  seek  to  atone  for  profligacy  by  perse- 
cution. His  mind  was  liberal,  and  bigotry  was  odious 
to  him.  It  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to  follow 
the  example  of  toleration  which  Henry  had  set.  He 
might  have  made  his  regency  memorable  by  again 
establishing  religious  liberty  in  France.  Nothing  which 
he  could  have  done  would  have  so  enhanced  the  well- 
being  of  that  country.  All  the  harm,  both  moral  and 
material,  which  France  had  suffered  from  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  could  have  been  undone 
by  the  recall  of  those  who  had  fled  from  persecution, 
and  by  the  restoration  of  religious  liberty  to  those 
who  suffered  from  oppression.  The  regent  had  not 
sufficient  vigor  of  character  to  pursue  such  a  pol- 
icy in  the  face  of  opposition,  and  there  were  none  to 
encourage  him  in  well-doing.  Dubois  was  the  only 
one  of  his  advisers  who  had  enough  intelligence  to 
appreciate   the   advantages  of  such   a   measure,  and 


THE  REGENCY,  351 

Dubois  already  had  the  vision  of  a  cardinal's  hat  be- 
fore his  eyes.  He  was  not  apt  to  recommend  any  step 
which  might  be  ill-received  at  Rome.  The  Duke  of 
St.  Simon  was  consulted  on  this  question,  and  he  has 
preserved  the  arguments  by  which  he  claimed  to  have 
turned  the  regent  from  his  purpose.  It  was  natural 
that  a  nobleman,  who  thought  that  the  welfare  of  the 
kingdom  depended  on  a  judge's  taking  off  his  hat  to 
a  duke,  should  apprehend  its  ruin  from  a  restoration 
of  religious  liberty.^  The  regent  allowed  himself  to 
be  diverted  from  a  purpose  which  he  had  the  intelli- 
gence to  form  and  the  weakness  to  abandon.  The 
conception  shows  the  strength  of  Orleans's  intellect, 
which  might  have  made  the  regency  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  epochs  in  French  history ;  its  relinquishment 
illustrates  the  facility  by  which  he  allowed  his  rule  to 
be  productive  of  more  harm  than  good. 

Though  the  weakness  of  the  regent's  character  pre- 
vented him  from  effecting  any  important  changes  in 
the  nature  of  the  government,  he  anticipated  many  of 
the  views  which  became  prevalent  in  France  half  a 
century  later.  He  was  an  admirer  of  the  English 
political  system  ;  he  demanded  liberty  for  himself,  and 
he  was  willing  to  accord  it  to  others.  He  loved  to 
tell  of  the  adventures  of  a  young  man  who  ventured 
to  compete  with  Charles  II.  for  the  affection  of  one 
of  his  favorites,  and  how  the  fortunate  rival  dared  to 
show  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  sovereign  without 
fear  of  being  sent  to  the  Tower. 

Later  in  the  century,  English  liberties  were  loudly 
praised  in  France,  and  lettres  de  cachet  were  de- 
nounced as  an  unbearable  tyranny,  but  hardly  a  trace 

^  The  arguments  of  St.  Simon  against  the  recall  of  the 
Huguenots  can  be  found  in  his  MemoireSy  t.  xiii.  83  et  seq. 


352    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  such  sentiments  can  be  found  in  the  period  of  the 
regency.  One  of  the  noblemen,  to  whom  the  regent 
related  this  anecdote  with  approval,  declared  that  such 
a  condition  of  things  was  an  insult  to  royalty  and  a 
scandal  to  the  kingdom.^  A  system  of  constitutional 
government,  and  guaranties  for  personal  liberty,  ex- 
cited little  admiration  among  the  bourgeoisie.  They 
contrasted  their  own  tranquillity  with  the  turmoil  of 
England.  "  That  nation  is  doomed  never  to  be  tran- 
quil, and  to  be  the  slave  of  the  liberty  of  which  it 
boasts,  and  which  it  pursues  with  such  audacity," 
wrote  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  French  lawyers  of 
the  English  in  1722.2 

The  French  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  criticising 
their  rulers,  but  there  was  no  demand  for  important 
changes  in  the  form  of  government.  The  evils  that 
existed  were  regarded  as  the  necessary  evils  of  any 
government.  Occasional  complaints  of  taxation,  occa- 
sional wrangles  with  the  Parliament,  were  of  no  more 
significance  than  similar  manifestations  in  the  past. 
The  great  majority  of  the  public  concerned  themselves 
very  little  about  the  administration  of  affairs.  They 
had  no  voice  in  it,  and  they  regarded  it  as  none  of 
their  business.  Newspapers  were  almost  unknown  ; 
those  which  appeared  contained  no  news  ;  they  were 
read  only  by  the  few  who  were  interested  in  court 
gossip. 

The  administration  of  Louis  XIV.  left  to  his  suc- 
cessor a  legacy  of  debt  as  well  as  of  persecution.  The 
indebtedness  of  the  state  was  so  heavy  that  it  was 
impossible  to  pay  the  interest  upon  it,  and  meet  the 
ordinary   expenses   of   the   government.     In   such   a 

1  Mem.  de  St.  Simon^  xi.  169  et  seq. 

2  Journal  de  Marais,  ii.  293. 


THE  REGENCY.  353 

dilemma,  its  repudiation  was  suggested  as  the  sim- 
plest policy  to  adopt.  The  conception  of  monarchical 
government  strengthened  the  arguments  for  such  a 
course.  The  nation  was  absorbed  in  the  monarch ;  the 
king  was  the  state.  If  this  were  so,  could  it  not  be 
argued  with  plausibility  that  those  who  lent  their 
money,  lent  it  to  the  king  ?  Why  should  the  burden 
of  his  recklessness  be  cast  upon  the  nation  when  he 
had  passed  away  ?  Why  was  Louis  XV.  more  liable 
for  the  debts  of  his  ancestor  than  any  other  grandson 
of  a  bankrupt  grandsire?  If  the  principle  were  es- 
tablished that  money  borrowed  by  a  king  of  France 
was  a  debt  against  him  alone,  and  was  not  binding 
upon  his  successors,  it  might  indeed  be  difficult  for 
future  sovereigns  to  contract  indebtedness,  jof  which 
the  payment  would  be  problematical.  But  such  a 
result  would  be  a  gain.  A  king  would  have  to  live 
within  his  income.  He  could  not  ruin  himself  and  his 
country  by  undertaking  wars  to  gratify  his  ambition, 
or  by  building  palaces  to  please  his  vanity.  The 
credit  of  the  French  kings  was  so  bad  that  they  could 
only  borrow  at  ruinous  rates ;  it  would  be  much  better 
if  they  could  not  borrow  at  all.^ 

Such  arguments  were  not  regarded  as  valid  by  the 
regent.  An  endeavor  was  made  to  keep  faith  with 
the  public  creditor,  but  how  to  do  it  was  a  question 
that  would  have  embarrassed  a  Colbert  or  a  Turgot. 
The  detail  of  the  condition  of  the  treasury  is  not  im- 
portant. In  round  figures,  the  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment for  the  year  1715  were  about  150,000,000  livres ; 
the  gross  receipts  of  taxation  were  165,000,000,  but 
after  deducting  the  amount  assigned  to  secure  the 

1  These  views  were  well  set  out  by  St.  Simon,  but  he  was  not 
the  only  one  who  held  them. 


^54         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

payment  of  interest,  less  than  70,000,000  remained. 
There  was  a  floating  debt  of  nearly  a  milliard  livres, 
and  the  entire  indebtedness  was  over  three  milliards. 
The  debt  had  increased  twenty-fold  in  thirty  years. 
Such  were  the  financial  results  of  the  government  of 
Louis  XIV.i  The  Duke  of  Noailles,  the  chief  of  the 
council  of  finances,  wrote  to  Mme.  de  Maintenon : 
"  We  have  found  matters  in  a  more  terrible  state 
than  can  be  described  ;  both  the  king  and  his  subjects 
ruined  ;  nothing  paid  for  several  years ;  confidence 
entirely  gone.  Hardly  ever  has  the  monarchy  been 
in  such  a  condition,  though  it  has  several  times  been 
near  its  ruin.  .  .  .  The  picture  is  not  agreeable,  but 
it  is  only  too  true."  ^ 

A  large  portion  of  the  debt  had  been  contracted  at 
usurious  rates.  The  credit  of  the  government  was 
poor,  and  its  financial  system  was  bad.  It  had  been 
the  victim  of  its  necessities  during  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  as  it  had  been  during  the  period 
of  the  Fronde.  The  treasury  had  been  plundered 
under  the  ministry  of  Chamillart,  as  it  had  been  plun- 
dered under  the  ministry  of  Fouquet.  The  same 
causes  produced  the  same  results.  Those  who  dealt 
with  the  administration  of  the  finances,  who  lent 
money  to  the  government,  or  who  obtained  the  farm 
of  the  taxes,  made  unconscionable  profits  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  and  they  continued  to  do  the  same 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  evil  was  never  cured 
until  there  was  a  radical  change  in  the  system  of  the 
imposition  and  the  collection  of  taxes.     No  intelligent 

1  Forbonnais,  Recherches  sur  les  finances,  t.  ii.  ;  Lettres  du  Due 
de  Noailles,  and  Deliberations  du  conseil  des  finances,  MSS.  Bib. 
Nat.  ;  Recherches  historiques  sur  le  systeme  de  Law,  1-14. 

2  Noailles  to  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  September  21,  1715. 


THE  REGENCY.  355 

effort  was  made  at  such  a  reformation  until  the 
ministry  of  Turgot.  The  financial  system  of  the  old 
regime  was  not  destroyed  until  the  Revolution. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  and  his  advisers  did  now 
what  had  been  done  before :  they  obtained  present 
relief  by  measures  that  were  harsh  and  often  unjust, 
and  they  left  the  system  to  breed  further  evils  in  the 
future.  A  rigorous  examination  was  made  into  the 
nature  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  state,  and  the  nomi- 
nal amount  was  largely  reduced.  The  rate  of  interest 
was  lowered  on  the  sums  that  were  held  to  be  justly 
due.  The  frauds  of  those  who  dealt  with  the  gov- 
ernment were  notorious ;  those  who  obtained  the  farm 
of  the  taxes  paid  to  the  state  too  little,  and  took  from 
the  people  too  much;  those  who  lent  money  to  the 
king  received  usurious  rates  of  interest.  During  the 
more  disastrous  period  of  the  war  of  the  Succession, 
it  was  said  that,  on  an  issue  of  32,000,000  livres  of 
rentes,  the  government  received  only  8,000,000.^  A 
special  court  was  organized  to  investigate  the  frauds 
of  government  contractors  and  officials,  and  to  inflict 
upon  them  such  punishments  and  such  fines  as  it  saw 
fit.2  It  was  vested  with  an  unlimited  authority,  which 
it  exercised  with  harshness.  Those  who  had  dealt 
with  the  government  were  required  to  state  the  amount 
of  their  wealth,  and  they  were  then  assessed  on  the 
theory  that  they  had  made  too  much.  Samuel  Ber- 
nard, the  great  banker,  assessed  himself  9,000,000 
livres,  and  paid  it  voluntarily.^     The  entire  amount 

1  Dutot,  Reflexions  politiques  sur  Us  finances,  866.     Dutot  was 
one  of  the  officers  of  Law's  bank. 

2  Edicts,  March  7  and  17, 1716  ;  Anc.  lois  frangaises,  xxi.  80, 
85  ;  Declaration,  September  18,  1716. 

3  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence^  ii.  513. 


356    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  fines  imposed  by  the  Chamber  of  Justice  was  over 
200,000,000,  and  the  names  of  over  4,400  persons  ap- 
peared on  the  lists.  In  addition  to  the  loss  of  money, 
severe  penalties  were  inflicted  on  many.  The  populace 
was  exultant  at  the  sufferings  of  a  class  of  men  whom 
it  had  little  reason  to  love.  One  offender  was  con- 
demned to  make  reparation  by  marching  to  the  pillory 
with  bare  feet,  carrying  a  lighted  torch,  and  bearing 
a  sign  on  which  were  the  words :  "  Robber  of  the 
people."  After  that,  he  was  sent  to  the  galleys.  His 
sufferings  excited  no  compassion,  and  the  mob  cried 
out  to  hang  him.  At  the  Tournelle,  a  brutal  con- 
cierge fastened  him  to  a  tree,  and  allowed  the  mob,  at 
four  sous  a  head,  to  watch  his  misery  and  vent  their 
reproaches.  When  another  was  exposed  in  the  pillory, 
he  was  covered  with  mud  hurled  at  him  by  the  women 
that  stood  around.  They  even  complained  when  he 
was  allowed  additional  covering  to  protect  his  half- 
naked  body  from  the  excessive  cold.^  Both  of  these 
criminals  claimed  that  they  had  simply  carried  out  the 
orders  of  men  high  in  authority,  and  this  was  probably 
true. 

The  severity  with  which  the  Chamber  of  Justice 
proceeded  soon  transferred  popular  sympathy  to  the 
side  of  the  offenders,  and  a  year  after  its  organization 
the  court  was  abolished.^  Its  procedure  was  so  arbi- 
trary that,  while  some  were  punished  too  severely, 
many  escaped  altogether,  and  this  was  still  more  true 
of  the  fines.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  state  received  one 
half  of  the  amounts  imposed.^  Few  men  found  it 
so  hard  to  say  No  as  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  the 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  391,  649. 

2  Edict  of  March,  1717. 

^  Mem.  de  NoailleSy  ed.  Michaud,  264. 


THE  REGENCY.  857 

facility  of  his  character  was  utilized.  It  was  an  open 
scandal  that  a  large  number  of  financiers  escaped 
paying  anything  to  the  state,  by  bribing  those  who 
had  the  ear  of  the  regent.  "  For  300,000  livres  I 
will  get  you  a  remission  of  your  penalty,"  said  a 
count  to  a  contractor  who  had  been  fined  1,200,000. 
"  Ah,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  you  are  too  late,"  replied  the 
contractor ;  "  I  have  already  made  a  bargain  with 
Mme.  la  Comtesse  for  150,000."  ^  If  this  conversa- 
tion was  fictitious,  it  was  a  type  of  many  bargains 
which  were  actually  made  and  carried  out. 

By  the  measures  adopted,  the  nominal  indebted- 
ness of  the  government  was  largely  reduced,  and  the 
amount  of  the  annual  interest  was  diminished  in  still 
larger  proportion.  It  was  a  partial  bankruptcy,  in 
justification  of  which  it  could  be  urged  that  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  indebtedness  was  fraudu- 
lent, and  that  to  pay  it  in  full  was  impossible. 

The  expenses  of  the  government  were  also  reduced. 
The  regent  secured  peace  for  France  during  his  ad- 
ministration, and  as  a  result  the  cost  of  the  army 
was  lessened,  and  the  extraordinary  expenses,  which 
had  long  swollen  the  budget,  disappeared.  With 
more  questionable  wisdom,  a  reduction  of  about  ten 
millions  was  made  in  the  sum  spent  annually  on  the 
navy .2  There  was  a  great  need  of  economy,  but  the 
navy  was  the  last  department  in  which  it  should 
have  been  practiced.  The  French  marine  was  des- 
tined long  to  be  neglected,  and  the  result  was  disas- 
trous to  the  interests  of  that  country.  No  successor 
arose  to  Colbert  in  the  zeal  which  he  had  shown  to 
develop  the  naval  strength  of  France. 

^  Cochut,  Law,  son  systems  et  son  epoque. 

2  Comparison  des  depenses  de  1716  avec  celles  de  171'6  ;  Forbon- 
nais,  ii.  451;  Projet  des  depenses^  1717,  1718. 


358  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Some  reductions  were  made  in  taxation,  but  it  was 
cliaracteristic  of  the  spirit  of  the  old  regime  that  the 
tax  which  was  first  reduced  was  the  one  which  should 
have  been  last  retained.  A  capitation  tax  had,  been 
imposed  during  the  late  war,  the  burden  of  which  to 
some  extent  fell  upon  all  classes.  The  repeal  of  it 
was  vehemently  demanded  as  soon  as  the  war  was 
ended.  The  government  hazarded  a  deficit,  rather 
than  continue  a  duty  which  was  in  part  paid  by  the 
privileged  classes.  The  capitation  was  offensive  be- 
cause it  was  fair.^ 

A  resort  to  the  unfortunate  practices  of  the  late 
reign  counteracted  the  benefits  that  might  have  re- 
sulted from  some  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the 
regent.  The  value  of  the  currency  was  lowered.  The 
government  called  it  in  for  recoinage,  and  hoped  to 
make  a  profit  of  200,000,000  livres  on  receiving  gold- 
pieces  at  sixteen  livres  and  reissuing  them  at  twenty. 
Hardly  one  third  of  this  amount  was  realized.^  The 
depreciation  of  the  currency  seemed  a  temporary 
advantage  to  debtors,  but  the  injury  done  to  business 
at  large  more  than  offset  this  gain.  Trade  continued 
dead.  There  was  still  an  annual  deficiency  in  the 
government  budget. 

Lemontey  estimates  that  from  814  to  1726  the 
amount  of  silver  contained  in  a  French  livre  was  re- 
duced from  twelve  ounces  to  one  sixth  of  an  ounce, 

^  The  relics  of  the  capitation  tax  were  so  arranged  that  in 
time  it  fell  almost  entirely  on  the  unprivileged  classes.  A  count 
who  on  an  income  of  40,000  livres  originally  paid  from  1,700  to 
2,600  livres,  shortly  before  the  Revolution  paid  but  400.  A 
bourgeois  with  6,000  livres  of  revenue,  who  had  at  first  paid  70 
livres,  at  last  paid  720.  —  Taine,  Uancien  Regime,  475,  476. 

2  For  these  measures,  see  Lettres  de  Noailles  and  Registres  du 
Conseil  des  Finances  ;  also,  Forbonnais,  ii.  389,  390. 


THE  REGENCY.  359 

and  that,  by  fraudulent  recoinages  scattered  over  nine 
hundred  years,  the  government  had  endeavored  to 
plunder  the  people  out  of  seventy-one  times  the  entire 
value  of  coin  in  circulation.^  .  In  1726,  under  the 
ministry  of  Fleury,  the  value  of  silver  and  gold  was 
at  last  placed  substantially  where  it  still  remains. 
From  then  to  the  Revolution,  France,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  history,  experienced  the  benefits  of  a  cur- 
rency of  unvarying  value.  It  is  not  strange  that  we 
should  find  in  that  period  a  greater  prosperity  than 
the  country  had  ever  before  enjoyed. 

1  Lemontey,  i.  61. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

DUBOIS   AND  THE  ENGLISH   ALLIANCE. 
1715-1717. 

There  was  little  probability  of  important  changes 
in  the  foreign  policy  of  France  while  this  remained 
under  the  control  of  a  council.  But  there  was  an 
obscure  retainer  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  who  had  no 
fear  of  innovations,  who  was  restless  to  make  a  place 
for  himself  in  the  world,  and  who  combined  industry 
and  boldness  with  an  acute  and  active  mind.  It  was 
not  strange  that  the  influence  of  a  body  of  respectable 
and  incapable  officials  steadily  grew  less,  and  that  the 
entire  control  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  kingdom 
was  soon  in  the  hands  of  an  able  and  a  resolute  man. 

The  Cardinal  Dubois  has  enjoyed  the  sad  distinc- 
tion of  being  declared  the  most  wicked,  unscrupulous, 
and  corrupt  of  all  the  prime  ministers  of  France. 
Even  historians  of  accuracy  and  fairness  still  refer  to 
the  power  held  by  a  low-born,  profligate,  and  apostate 
priest,  as  the  worst  phase  of  degradation  in  the  dissi- 
pation of  the  regency.  Dubois  was  portrayed  as  a 
man  of  the  lowest  order  by  the  Duke  of  St.  Simon, 
whose  glowing  pages  have  often  been  received  as  con- 
clusive evidence  as  to  the  events  and  the  characters  of 
his  epoch.  He  was  odious  to  his  high-bred  colleagues 
because  he  was  low-bred  ;  he  incurred  the  unfavorable 
judgment  of  most  of  his  contemporaries  because,  in 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      361 

an  age  when  innovations  were  regarded  with  sus- 
picion, he  dared  to  depart  from  the  political  traditions 
of  the  past.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  modern 
scholars,  he  has  found  none  to  defend  him. 

Certainly  Dubois  was  not  a  man  of  lofty  ideals  or 
of  unselfish  purposes.  His  morality  was  not  edify- 
ing, but  it  compared  favorably  with  that  of  most  of 
his  associates ;  he  was  fond  of  money,  but  he  was  less 
greedy  in  its  pursuit  than  the  majority  of  those  who 
had  equal  opportunities  to  acquire  it ;  he  pushed  his 
own  fortunes  with  unremitting  vigor,  but  he  is  not  the 
only  man  in  high  position  who  has  been  guilty  of  that 
offense.  If  an  unprejudiced  study  does  not  discover 
in  Cardinal  Dubois  a  statesman  of  the  capacity  of 
Richelieu,  nor  a  patriot  of  the  purity  of  Lafayette, 
it  does  show  him  to  be  a  man  of  unusual  ability,  and 
not  a  man  of  unique  badness.  There  is  no  reason  for 
lamenting  his  tenure  of  office  as  a  degradation  to 
France.  Careful  investigation  leaves  the  complexion 
of  Dubois's  moral  character  somewhat  dusky,  but  it 
was  by  no  means  as  black  as  it  has  been  painted.  If 
he  is  to  be  judged  as  a  statesman,  there  is  still  less 
reason  for  regarding  his  elevation  to  power  as  un- 
seemly. There  were  few  of  those  who  had  control  of 
the  affairs  of  France  in  the  eighteenth  century  whose 
record  was  more  creditable.  Dubois  was  neither  a 
trifler  like  Calonne,  nor  an  imbecile  like  Brienne.  If 
in  character  he  was  inferior  to  Fleury,  in  intellect  he 
was  his  superior.  Had  France  continued  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  policy  of  Dubois,  she  would  have  been 
spared  the  humiliation  which  she  suffered  from  the 
follies  and  the  vices  of  his  successors. 

Guillaume  Dubois  was  born  at  Brives  in  1656. 
His  father  was  a  country  doctor,  who  combined  the 


362  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

sale  of  drugs  with  the  practice  of  his  art.  As  the 
son  of  the  apothecary  Dubois  was  always  known,  and 
it  is  certain  that  this  had  much  to  do  with  the  dis- 
favor with  which  he  was  regarded  by  his  contempo- 
raries. The  young  Dubois  received  a  good  education, 
chiefly  because  his  promise  as  a  student  obtained  the 
patronage  of  those  who  were  willing  to  aid  him.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-seven,  he  took  the  first  step  on  the 
road  which  was  to  lead  to  fortune :  he  was  appointed 
under-preceptor  of  the  king's  nephew,  then  known  as 
the  Duke  of  Chartres,  who  afterwards  became  the 
regent.  This  appointment  is  of  itself  the  most  con- 
clusive evidence  that  at  that  age  Dubois  had  a  repu- 
tation for  good  parts,  and  not  a  reputation  for  bad 
morals.  He  did  not  owe  his  promotion  to  influential 
kinsmen.  He  was  recommended  for  the  place  by  the 
head  of  the  college  where  he  had  studied,  who  was  a 
man  of  learning  and  piety ;  and  he  obtained  the  posi- 
tion from  the  head  preceptor,  who  was  a  man  of  the 
highest  character. 

It  is  now,  however,  that  the  special  depravity  of 
Dubois's  nature  is  supposed  to  have  developed  itself. 
To  the  steadfast  favor  of  the  regent  he  owed  his  sub- 
sequent fortune ;  this  favor  he  is  said  to  have  gained 
by  a  shameful  betrayal  of  his  trust,  and  by  abusing  his 
position  to  initiate  Orleans  in  the  career  of  debauch- 
ery which  he  pursued  during  life.  A  preceptor  who 
taught  a  pious  youth  to  be  a  debauchee  would  cer- 
tainly possess  a  moral  character  of  a  very  low  order. 
But  often  as  this  accusation  has  been  repeated  against 
Dubois,  there  is  not  enough  evidence  of  such  conduct 
to  authorize  a  judge  to  submit  the  question  to  a  petty 
jury.  It  is  not  too  much  to  demand  that  the  facts  of 
history,  as  well  as  the  offenses  of  some  obscure  mis- 
creant, should  be  established  by  proof. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,      363 

The  Duke  of  St.  Simon  declares  that  Dubois  in- 
duced his  pupil  to  plunge  into  debauchery,  to  despise 
religion,  to  regard  as  sham  all  pretense  of  honesty  in 
man  or  of  virtue  in  woman.^  St.  Simon  was  a  con- 
temporary, and  his  memoirs  are  among  the  most  valu- 
able authorities  for  the  history  of  his  time.  But  there 
are  few  writers  whose  statements  should  be  more  care- 
fully scrutinized,  few  whose  animosities  have  more 
deeply  tinged  all  that  they  said.  When  St.  Simon 
completed  his  memoirs  he  was  an  old  man,  embittered 
with  the  world,  filled  with  rancor  against  those  who 
had  been  more  successful  than  he  in  the  contest  of  life, 
wrapped  in  the  intense  pride  of  birth,  through  which 
he  had  all  his  days  regarded  his  fellows  askance. 
He  hated  Dubois  because  he  was  a  vulgar  adventurer 
who  had  gained  the  favor  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
because  that  prince  had  chosen  to  be  guided  by  the  son 
of  an  apothecary  instead  of  by  the  son  of  a  duke. 
With  the  venom  in  which  he  excels  all  writers,  he 
has  described  the  character  of  Dubois  :  "  Every  vice  . 
contended  in  him  for  mastery.  Avarice,  debauchery, 
and  ambition  were  his  gods  ;  perfidy,  flattery,  and  ser- 
vility were  his  means.  .  .  .  An  odor  of  falseness 
exhaled  from  every  pore.  .  .  .  He  owed  his  elevation 
to  his  vices.  As  preceptor,  he  corrupted  the  morals  of 
his  pupil ;  as  minister,  he  debased  his  fatherland  and 
sold  it  to  England  ;  as  prince  of  the  church,  he  died 
from  the  result  of  his  debauches,  blaspheming  God."  ^ 

Such  accusations  cannot  be  received  without  exami- 
nation, even  when  made  by  an  associate  and  a  contem- 
porary. Those  whom  the  Duke  of  St.  Simon  hated  — 
and  there  were  few  whom  he  did  not  hate  —  he  hon- 
estly believed  to  be  the  most  debased  of  men.     The 

1  Mem.  de  St,  Simon,  xi.  177.  2  jrj,^  ^i  175^  176. 


364    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Duke  of  Noailles  was  a  man  of  character  and  faJr 
capacity,  well  regarded  in  his  own  day,  and  well 
spoken  of  by  historians  of  the  time.  But  he  incurred 
the  animosity  of  St.  Simon,  and  it  is  thus  that  he  de- 
scribes one  who  could  be  fairly  summed  up  as  an  aver- 
age, second-rate  soldier  and  politician :  "I  will  not 
exaggerate  the  picture.  Absolute  truth  shall  be  here, 
as  always,  my  only  guide.  .  .  .  The  Duke  of  Noailles 
was  the  most  exact,  the  most  faithful,  the  most  perfect 
copy  of  the  serpent  which  beguiled  Eve,  and  destroyed 
the  happiness  of  the  race,  that  humanity  has  been 
able  to  produce."  ^ 

It  is  evident  that,  seen  in  the  haze  of  St.  Simon's 
animosities,  personages  of  ordinary  stature  became 
strange  and  monstrous.  His  description  of  Dubois's 
character,  which  has  been  accepted  as  if  it  were  a  part 
of  Holy  Writ,  is  far  from  being  accurate.  The  vices  of 
Dubois  have  been  magnified  upon  the  panorama  of 
history.  The  accusation  that  he  obtained  his  pupil's 
favor  by  corrupting  his  morals  has  been  repeated  by 
historians  from  Voltaire  to  Martin.  But  the  charge 
was  first  made  when  he  had  become  a  powerful  minis- 
ter. His  infamy  was  not  discovered  until  he  had  be- 
come famous.  On  the  other  hand,  his  actual  relations 
with  his  pupil  appear  clearly  enough  from  the  testi- 
mony of  those  who  knew  him  when  he  was  only  a  hum- 
ble retainer.  Dubois  was  appointed  under-preceptor 
of  the  future  regent  in  1683.  Four  years  later  the 
preceptor,  St.  Laurent,  died,  a  man  of  the  most 
upright  character.  He  recommended  Dubois  for  his 
own  place.  The  appointment  was  made  by  Louis 
XIV.,  who  had  then  reformed,  and  frowned  upon  any 
suspicion  of  immorality.  Every  detail  in  the  life  of 
1  Mem.  de  St,  Simon,  xi.  227. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      365 

a  prince  like  the  Duke  of  Chartres  was  known  to  the 
community.  There  were  plenty  of  men  who  desired 
so  responsible  a  position  as  that  of  his  preceptor.  We 
may  be  sure  that,  if  there  had  been  aught  to  criticise 
in  the  conduct  of  a  low-born  man  like  Dubois,  it 
would  have  been  reported  to  the  king.  The  fact  that 
Dubois  was  chosen  for  this  position  by  Louis  XIV.  is 
persuasive  evidence  that,  down  to  that  time,  nothing 
in  his  life  had  given  occasion  for  scandal.  He  was 
then  thirty-one  years  of  age. 

The  Duke  of  Chartres  was  growing  to  be  a  man, 
and  he  soon  became  known  as  one  of  the  most  dissi- 
pated of  the  young  nobility.  In  this  fact  there  was 
nothing  extraordinary.  When  only  seventeen  he  was 
married  to  a  woman  for  whom  he  had  no  affection. 
He  was  surrounded  by  associates  who  were  young, 
frivolous,  and  debauched.  He  was  exposed  to  the 
temptations  which  lie  in  wait  for  a  prince.  He  had 
no  need  of  a  middle-aged  pedant  as  a  teacher  in  the 
practices  of  dissipation. 

There  was  one  person  who  certainly  kept  close 
watch  of  the  duke's  conduct,  and  that  was  his 
mother.  She  lamented  the  weaknesses  of  an  only 
son,  for  whom  she  had  a  passionate  fondness.  If  his 
preceptor  had  been,  as  Voltaire  calls  him,  the  pur- 
veyor of  his  pleasures,  the  fact  could  not  have  been 
concealed,  during  a  long  term  of  years,  from  an  anx- 
ious and  keen-witted  mother.  The  letters  which  she 
wrote  to  Dubois,  extending  over  sixteen  years,  are  the 
best  evidence  that  he  was  faithful  to  his  trust,  and  that 
he  endeavored  to  restrain  his  pupil  from  the  dissipa- 
tion into  which  he  plunged. ^      "  I  assure  you,"  she 

^  The  work  of  the  Comte  de  Seilhac,  L'Ahbe  Dubois,  though 
of  small  critical  value,  contains  a  large  number  of  valuable  let- 
ters and  documents  in  reference  to  Dubois. 


866         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

wrote  Dubois,  "  of  my  gratitude  for  your  endeavors  to 
make  an  upright  man  of  my  son."  ^  "I  shall  be  re- 
joiced if  I  can  find  some  occasion  of  showing  you  my 
gratitude  for  what  you  do  for  my  son  and  for  me." 
"  Surely  you  will  find  the  recompense  which  your  zeal 
and  your  pains  merit."  ^  Three  years  later  she  writes : 
"M.  de  Labetere"  (the  under-governor,  a  man  of 
estimable  character,  and  whose  duties  kept  him  con- 
stantly with  the  duke)  '•'  praised  you  yesterday  for  your 
zeal  for  the  welfare  of  my  son.  Although  I  had  no 
doubt  of  it,  this  gave  me  pleasure."  ^  In  1696,  she 
wrote  to  Dubois  bewailing  the  misconduct  of  her  son, 
"  who  had  been  educated  with  such  care,  to  whom  St, 
Laurent  and  you  had  taught  moral  and  noble  princi- 
ples." ^  "  Whatever  happens,  I  shall  always  be  thank- 
ful to  you  for  all  the  pains  you  have  taken,  and  shall 
hope  at  some  time  to  show  my  gratitude."  ^  "  I  know 
right  well  that  the  bad  conduct  of  my  son  is  in  no 
wise  your  fault,  and  I  assure  you  of  the  continuance 
of  my  esteem."  ^  "  If  it  was  not  my  duty  to  endeavor 
to  correct  my  son  by  my  remonstrances,  I  should  long 
ago  have  renounced  the  labor,  from  the  hopelessness  of 
success.  I  admire  your  patience  in  persisting.  Such 
pains  are  more  meritorious  before  God  than  if  you 
fasted  on  bread  and  water."  ^  Ten  years  afterwards 
we  find  the  mother  still  assuring  Dubois  of  the  con- 
tinuance of  her  friendship  and  esteem.^ 

1  Princess  Palatine  to  Dubois,  March  25,  1691. 

2  Ih.,  June  15  and  August  13,  1691. 
8  Ih.,  June  11,  1694. 

*  Ih.,  July  12,  1696. 

5  Ih.,  August  6,  1696. 

6  Ih.,  August  10,  1696. 
■^  Ih.,  January  28,  1696. 
8  Ih.,  letters  of  1706. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      367 

Later  in  the  abbe's  career,  the  princess  palatine  be- 
came very  unfriendly  to  him.  He  offended  her,  as 
he  offended  many  others,  when,  from  being  a  humble 
follower  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  he  became  a  power  in 
the  state.  She  denounced  him  as  a  rogue  and  a  trick- 
ster, as  a  traitor  who  sold  his  country,  and  in  whom 
the  truth  could  not  be  found,  but  she  never  complained 
of  his  conduct  in  reference  to  her  son,  because  she, 
best  of  all  the  world,  knew  that  there  was  nothing  of 
which  to  complain. 

Louis  XIV.  was  always  informed  of  the  conduct  of 
those  connected  with  the  court ;  he  took  what  seems 
an  excessive  interest  in  a  system  of  minute  espionage. 
The  behavior  of  the  abbe  did  not  escape  his  atten- 
tion, but  he  found  nothing  in  it  to  forfeit  his  favor.^ 
He  bestowed  upon  him  a  modest  living.  In  1698,  he 
intrusted  Dubois  with  a  diplomatic  position  of  minor 
importance. 

The  admirers  of  Fenelon  justly  claim  for  him  the 
purest  reputation  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  He 
was  preceptor  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  in  a  posi- 
tion where  he  must  have  known  Dubois's  character 

1  Among  the  other  fables  due  to  the  credulous  brain  of  St. 
Simon  is  that  Dubois  asked  of  Louis  XIV.  a  cardinal's  hat,  as  a 
reward  for  his  influence  in  inducing  Orleans  to  marry  the  king's 
bastard  daughter,  and  that  he  lost  Louis's  favor  by  so  preposter- 
ous a  demand.  It  would  have  been  most  preposterous,  consider- 
ing Dubois's  humble  position  at  that  time,  and  that  is  one  of  the 
proofs  that  he  never  made  it.  Whatever  else  he  was,  certainly 
he  was  not  a  fool.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  at  the  time  when  he 
was  supposed  to  have  been  demanding  a  cardinalate,  we  find 
him  asking  for  a  very  modest  living,  and  receiving  it  with  ex- 
pressions of  good- will  from  Louis  XIV.  and  P^re  la  Chaise,  "  as 
a  person  of  merit,  learning,  and  virtue."  —  Dubois  to  Pere  la 
Chaise,  August,  1692  ;  P^re  la  Chaise  to  the  Due  de  Chartres, 
1692. 


368         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

thoroughly.  He  would  have  recommended  no  one  tor 
an  ecclesiastical  preferment  whom  he  thought  to  be 
an  evil-liver.  In  1691,  he  urged  Dubois's  appoint- 
ment as  prior  of  Brives.^  Twenty  years  later  we  find 
him  writing,  "The  Abbe  Dubois,  formerly  preceptor 
of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  has  been  my  friend  for  very 
many  years."  ^ 

In  view  of  such  testimony,  it  is  idle  to  claim  that 
Dubois  began  his  career  as  a  debauchee,  or  that  he 
gained  his  master's  favor,  by  assuming  the  functions 
of  a  purveyor.  On  the  other  hand,  he  made  no  claim 
to  any  remarkable  sanctity  of  character.  He  led 
such  a  life  as  many  another  abbe  of  the  time,  in- 
dulged in  the  forms  of  dissipation  which  he  found  to 
his  taste,  and  paid  very  little  attention  to  the  reli- 
gious career  to  which  he  had  nominally  devoted  him- 
self. This  was  not  commendable,  but  it  was  far  from 
unusual.  He  was  by  no  means  a  conspicuous  exam- 
ple of  immorality.  He  never  participated  in  the 
suppers  of  the  Palais  Royal,  he  had  no  taste  for  the 
roues,  he  did  not  seek  to  base  his  fortunes  on  the  favor 
of  some  mistress  of  the  regent.  During  the  years  that 
he  occupied  important  office,  he  led  a  life  of  unusual 
abstemiousness.  His  enemies  said  that  past  excesses 
compelled  him  to  refrain  from  further  indulgence.  It 
might  be  said  with  quite  as  much  truth  that  his  pro- 
digious industry  and  restless  activity  left  him  no  time 
for  dissipation. 

Indeed,  the  vices  of  Dubois's  character  were  of  a 
different  nature.  He  lusted  for  power,  and  place,  and 
a  conspicuous  position  before  the  world,  far  more  than 

1  F^nelon  to  Dubois,  August  12,  1691. 

2  Fdnelon,  Archevequ©  de  Cambrai  to  Mme.  Roujaut,  Octo- 
ber 14, 1711. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,      369 

he  did  for  the  pleasures  of  the  senses.  It  was  the 
envy  excited  by  his  remarkable  fortune  that  filled  his 
contemporaries  with  horror  at  the  spectacle  of  so 
wicked  a  priest.  Dubois  was  a  politician  in  fact,  and 
a  priest  only  in  name.  When  he  was  consecrated  as 
Archbishop  of  Cambray,  his  enemies  complained  be- 
cause he  had  to  receive  instructions  before  he  could 
say  the  mass.  But  as  he  made  no  claim  to  be  spirit- 
ually minded,  it  was  much  more  seemly  that  he  should 
have  taken  no  part  in  the  ministrations  of  the  church. 
He  was  not  a  priest  at  all,  until  he  was  obliged,  three 
years  before  his  death,  to  take  orders  to  be  made  an 
archbishop.  Like  many  French  abbes,  his  relations 
with  the  church  consisted  solely  in  having  a  share  in 
her  revenues.  If  Dubois  had  not  risen  from  such  a 
humble  position,  his  immorality  would  have  aroused 
little  comment.  A  prince  might  be  an  archbishop,  and 
not  allow  this  to  interfere  with  a  career  of  pleasure, 
but  it  was  regarded  as  unseemly  when  a  vulgar  man 
filled  high  ecclesiastical  office  with  little  regard  for 
ecclesiastical  propriety.  A  cardinal  whose  father  had 
pounded  a  pestle  was  bound  to  more  discreet  con- 
duct than  one  whose  father  had  wielded  a  marshal's 
baton.  Certainly  we  do  not  have  to  go  beyond  the 
limits  of  French  history  to  find  an  abundance  of  car- 
dinals and  archbishops  whose  immorality,  and  whose 
indifference  to  religion,  was  far  more  avowed,  more 
unblushing,  more  outrageous,  than  anything  ever  laid 
to  Dubois's  charge,  and  by  whose  conduct  the  public 
was  very  little  disturbed. 

Sixty  years  before.  Cardinal  Eetz  had  endeavored 
to  become  prime  minister,  and  it  was  not  his  lack  of 
morals  that  defeated  his  ambition.  He  was  a  far  more 
notorious  evil-liver  than  Dubois.     While  Dubois  dis- 


870  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

charged  no  religious  duties,  Retz  claimed  to  perforin 
those  of  a  bishop.  He  exhorted  the  faithful  on  their 
sins ;  he  has  left  for  posterity  a  humorous  account 
of  the  way  in  which  he  combined  the  mysteries  of  re- 
ligion with  the  practices  of  gallantry.  But  Retz  was 
a  man  of  high  family,  the  grandson  of  a  marshal  of 
France.  His  immorality  was  viewed  with  placid  un- 
concern. 

Later  in  the  century.  Cardinal  Rohan,  of  the  great 
family  of  Rohan,  was  a  far  more  profligate  man  than 
Dubois,  and  he  aggravated  the  matter  by  being  a  fool 
besides  ;  yet  he  was,  on  the  whole,  popular  with  the 
community. 

Such  examples,  which  could  be  multiplied  indefi- 
nitely, do  not  excuse  the  fact  that  Dubois  was  a 
worldly-minded,  unscrupulous,  and  greedy  man,  who 
cared  nothing  for  religion  except  as  it  would  advance 
his  ambition,  but  they  do  justify  his  own  claim,  that 
the  most  of  those  who  denounced  him  as  a  wicked 
priest  were  more  disturbed  by  his  birth  than  by  his 
morals. 

They  were  not  without  some  excuse  for  their  preju- 
dices. Dubois  was  not  more  ambitious,  or  intriguing, 
or  greedy  than  many  a  well-born  associate,  but  he 
lacked  any  refinement  that  might  conceal  such  defects 
of  character.  He  was  vulgar  in  pushing  his  fortunes, 
and  ill-mannered  when  he  had  attained  success.  "  You 
can  make  a  cardinal  out  of  a  cad,"  said  one  of  his 
enemies,  "  but  you  cannot  make  a  gentleman."  ^  This 
criticism  was  just.  Dubois  never  acquired  either  the 
instincts  or  the  manners  of  a  well-bred,  high-minded 
man.  He  became  prime  minister,  but  he  never  got  to 
be  a  gentleman. 

1  Journal  de  Marais,  ii.  272. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      371 

When  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  made  regent,  Du- 
bois was  ahnost  sixty.  His  life  had  been  passed  in 
obscurity.  He  had  remained  on  friendly  terms  with 
his  former  pupil,  and  he  had  been  intrusted  with  a 
mission  for  him  in  Spain,  but  a  retainer  of  Orleans 
had  little  opportunity  to  advance  his  fortunes  while 
Louis  XIV.  was  alive.  Dubois  was  not  a  person  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  admitted  to  any  of  the 
councils  instituted  by  the  regent,  but  he  was  now  in 
favor  with  the  head  of  the  state ;  he  was  eager  for  an 
opportunity  to  show  his  capacity,  and  he  soon  made 
one  for  himself. 

George  I.  became  king  of  England  a  year  before 
the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  His  throne  was  far  from 
secure,  and  the  Jacobites  still  based  their  hopes  upon 
the  friendship  and  the  assistance  which  the  French 
king  had  so  long  extended  to  the  family  of  Stuart. 
By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Louis  had  given  his  word 
and  faith  as  a  king  that  neither  he  nor  his  heirs 
would  molest  the  English  princes  of  the  line  estab- 
lished by  act  of  Parliament,  and  that  they  would  give 
neither  counsel  nor  assistance,  neither  money  nor 
arms  nor  aid,  to  any  other  person  laying  claim  to  the 
throne  of  England.^  In  conformity  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  treaty,  the  Pretender  had  been  obliged 
to  seek  refuge  in  the  possessions  of  the  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine. While  the  French  had  thus  formally  aban- 
doned the  interests  of  a  family  which  had  inflicted 
almost  as  much  injury  on  France  as  on  England,  both 
Louis  and  his  people  strongly  desired  the  restoration 
of  the  Stuart  prince  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 
The  feeling  was  natural.  The  son  of  James  II.  was  a 
bigoted  Catholic,  and  the  Catholicism  of  the  French 
^  Articles  4  and  6  of  treaty. 


872    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

court  abated  nothing  o£  its  zeal  as  the  king  grew  older. 
The  antagonism  between  the  two  peoples  was  strong. 
The  French  may  have  had  an  instinctive  feeling  that 
the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  would  be  the  greatest 
evil  that  could  befall  the  English,  and  this  strength- 
ened their  interest  in  the  fortunes  of  the  exiled  family. 
We  could  hardly  expect  to  find  Louis  XIV.  very  se- 
vere in  refusing  aid  and  comfort  to  the  Pretender, 
when  the  English  ministry,  with  the  approval  of  the 
English  queen  and  the  good-will  of  a  large  part  of  the 
English  people,  were  engaged  in  planning  for  a  resto- 
ration of  the  Stuarts.  The  accession  of  the  house  of 
Hanover  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  George  and 
his  ministers  had  no  predilection  for  Jacobitism,  and 
the  insecurity  of  his  position  rendered  him  apprehen- 
sive of  any  assistance  which  the  Stuart  prince  might 
receive  from  French  sympathizers.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Jacobites  could  no  longer  await  tranquilly 
the  demise  of  the  sovereign.  Anne  was  dead,  and. 
George  was  on  the  throne.  The  Pretender  must  as- 
sert his  rights  by  arms,  as  there  was  now  no  possi- 
bility of  his  being  recalled  by  acclamation. 

A  great  pressure  was  brought  on  Louis  XIV.  to 
furnish  money  and  soldiers  for  an  expedition  to  Eng- 
land in  behalf  of  the  Chevalier  of  St.  George.  His 
ministers  approved  of  such  an  endeavor.  His  own 
sympathies  were  doubly  enlisted :  the  chevalier  was  a 
Catholic,  and  he  w^as  a  lawful  prince.  His  was  the 
cause  alike  of  religion  and  of  royalty.  How  far,  under 
other  circumstances,  Louis  XIV.  would  have  felt  him- 
self controlled  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  is 
uncertain.  It  was  a  time  when  sovereigns  did  not  allow 
their  agreements  to  interfere  with  their  interests,  or 
with  their  sympathies.     But  Louis  was  both  wise  and 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      373 

sincere  in  his  resolve  that  France  should  not  again  be 
involved  in  war.  He  would  not  require  any  further 
sacrifice  from  an  exhausted  country,  either  to  gratify 
the  king  of  Spain,  or  him  who  claimed  to  be  the  king 
of  England.  "  As  I  wish  to  avoid  any  pretext  of 
rupture,"  he  wrote  immediately  after  Anne's  death,  "  I 
have  dissuaded  the  Chevalier  of  St.  George  from  his 
intention  of  going  to  England,  and  have  made  him  see 
that  failure  in  such  an  enterprise  was  sure,  deprived, 
as  he  would  be,  of  all  assistance  from  me."  ^ 

The  partisans  of  the  Stuarts  continued,  however, 
their  endeavors  to  excite  a  rising  in  behalf  of  the  good 
cause.  The  sanguine  statements  of  the  exiles  were 
confirmed  by  the  French  minister  in  England.  He 
wrote  that  the  party  of  the  Pretender  was  so  strong 
that  a  revolution  was  imminent,  and  to  excite  it  needed 
only  the  hope  of  aid  from  France.^  Berwick  and  Bo- 
lingbroke  besought  Louis  for  troops,  but  he  refused 
to  furnish  them.^  Of  money  he  had  none  to  give, 
even  if  he  had  desired.  The  great  banker,  Bernard, 
assured  the  English  ambassador  that  the  French  king 
could  not  raise  a  sou  for  the  Pretender,  no  matter 
what  his  wishes  might  be.*  All  that  Louis  did  was 
to  ask  the  king  of  Spain  to  advance  some  money,  and 
Philip  gave  some  slight  pecuniary  aid  to  the  heir  of 
the  Stuarts.^     The  Jacobite  leaders  believed  that  if 

1  Louis  to  Philip,  August  23,  1714.  This  important  letter 
states  clearly  Louis's  position,  which  has  often  been  misstated. 

2  See  letters  of  Iberville  for  1715,  Aff,  Etr.  Iberville  allowed 
his  sympathies  to  affect  his  judgment. 

8  See  Mem.  de  Berwick,  and  letters  of  Bolingbroke  published 
m  Stanhope's  History  of  England,  vol.  i. 

*  Journal  of  Stair,  July  31,  1715  ;  Hardwicke  Papers,  vol.  ii. 

^  MS.  Papiers  de  Torcy,  88 ;  Bolingbroke  to  James,  August, 
5, 1715. 


374    FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY, 

Louis  had  lived  he  would  have  continued  to  furnish 
them  indirect  aid,  and  at  last,  perhaps,  would  have 
given  open  assistance,  but  it  is  unlikely  that  he  would 
have  hazarded  the  fortunes  of  a  war  in  behalf  of  the 
helpless  recluse  whom  they  sought  to  place  on  the 
English  throne.^ 

The  preparations  for  an  insurrection,  and  the  sym- 
pathy with  which  such  an  attempt  was  regarded  in 
France,  filled  George  and  his  advisers  with  apprehen- 
sion. They  had  little  hope  of  accomplishing  anything 
with  the  ministers  of  Louis  XIV.  These  were  sure 
to  do  all  that  they  dared  in  favor  of  a  Catholic  prince, 
and  against  a  king  whom  they  regarded  as  an  heret- 
ical usurper.  But  Louis  XIY.  was  sinking  fast. 
The  Duke  of  Orleans  was  not  in  sympathy  with  men 
who  had  shown  no  friendship  for  him.  It  was  the 
manifest  policy  of  England  to  support  his  interests 
against  the  claims  made  by  Philip  of  Spain.  If  Philip 
became  regent,  or  if  he  ascended  the  throne  of  France 
on  Louis  XV.'s  death,  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  would  be  swept  away ;  the  benefits  of  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  Succession  would  be  lost ;  the  English 
would  have  to  deal  with  a  prince  whose  inclinations 
on  behalf  of  the  Pretender  were  as  strong  as  those 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  who  would  be  less  restrained 
by  feelings  of  prudence  from  giving  expression  to 
them. 

1  For  these  hopes  of  the  Jacobites,  see  letter  of  Bolingbroke 
to  Mar,  September  20,  1715.  Louis's  resolution  not  to  involve 
France  in  war  in  behalf  of  the  Pretender  appears  clearly  from 
his  letters  to  Iberville  in  the  summer  of  1715,  Aff.  Etr.,  t.  268- 
270.  He  will  give  no  aid  to  fomient  troubles  in  England,  he 
writes  on  June  10  ;  and  as  late  as  August  22  he  says  that  the 
Pretender  has  neither  troops  nor  vessels,  and  cannot  invade 
England. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      375 

Dubois  has  been  credited  with  devising  the  famous 
union  of  interests  between  the  house  of  Hanover  and 
the  Duke  of  Orleans,  but  such  an  idea  was  first  sug- 
gested by  the  English ;  it  was  urged  by  them  while 
Louis  XIV.  was  alive,  and  before  Dubois  had  be- 
gun his  diplomatic  career.  While  it  was  still  un- 
certain what  disposition  Louis  would  make  of  the 
regency  by  his  will,  Lord  Stair,  the  English  ambas- 
sador, was  instructed  to  cultivate  intimate  relations 
with  the  Duke  of  Orleans ;  to  offer  the  assistance  of 
England  to  secure  him  the  regency ;  and  to  assure  him 
that,  should  the  dauphin  die,  she  would  support  his 
rights  to  the  throne  of  France.^  In  return  for  this 
proffered  aid,  it  was  hoped  that  the  duke  would  oppose 
the  endeavors  of  the  Pretender,  and  that  he  would  be 
ready,  when  he  should  have  the  power,  to  give  Eng- 
land satisfaction  in  the  matters  concerning  which  she 
sought  redress  in  vain  from  Louis  XIV.^  Orleans 
received  these  assurances  of  sympathy  with  warm  ex- 
pressions of  gratitude,  but  nothing  more  than  polite 
words  resulted  from  the  negotiations.^  The  English 
were  exuberant  in  their  professions  of  interest,  and 
felt  that  their  ardor  was  not  returned.  Stanhope 
wrote  that  he  could  wish  the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  re- 
alize thoroughly  the  zeal  of  the  king  in  his  behalf ; 
that  the  duke  was  the  dupe  of  those  who  claimed  that 
his  regency  would  be  unopposed  ;  and  that  he  was 

1  See  letters  and  journal  of  Stair,  summer  of  1715. 

2  Instructions  to  Stair,  January,  1715,  record  office,  352  ; 
Stanhope  to  Stair,  July  14,  1715,  cited  in  Wiesener's  Le  Regent, 
VAhhe  Dubois,  et  les  Anglais. 

8  Stair  describes  the  situation  in  his  journal,  August  6  :  "I 
have  no  news  of  the  abb^,  which  makes  me  think  that  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  is  willing  to  let  the  affair  of  the  Pretender  take  its 
train  without  meddling  with  it." 


376    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

allowing  himself  to  be  cajoled  in  the  hope  of  being 
named  regent  by  Louis's  will.^ 

Though  Orleans  did  not  seek  to  utilize  these 
friendly  offers,  the  news  of  his  accession  to  the  re- 
gency was  received  with  great  pleasure  by  the  Eng- 
lish ministers.  "  If  the  Duke  of  Orleans  receives  as 
much  applause  in  France  as  in  England,"  wrote  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  "  there  was  never  a  more  for- 
tunate ruler."  ^  A  Jacobite  insurrection  soon  broke 
out,  and  threatened  the  overthrow  of  the  house  of 
Hanover.  In  France,  though  the  king  of  Spain  took 
no  steps  to  disturb  Orleans  as  regent,  he  still  insisted 
that  his  renunciation  was  of  no  validity,  and  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  he  would  seek  to  enforce  his 
claims  if  the  young  king  died.  What  so  natural, 
said  the  English,  as  that  George  and  Orleans,  two 
rulers  equally  threatened,  should  combine  for  their 
mutual  defense  !  To  each  of  them  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  guaranteed  the  rigbt  to  a  throne  ;  let  them 
agree  to  enforce  its  provisions,  and  protect  the  in- 
terests of  both  parties.  Stair  was  authorized  to  pro- 
pose to  Orleans  a  treaty  by  which  the  English  would 
guarantee  to  him  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  re- 
gency, and  the  throne  of  France  if  Louis  XV.  should 
die  leaving  no  sons.  Nothing  was  asked  of  him  in 
return  except  that  France  should,  in  like  manner, 
guarantee  George  in  the  occupation  of  the  English 
throne,  and  should  give  no  aid  to  the  Pretender.^ 

1  Stanhope  to  Stair,  August  23  and  28,  1715. 

2  Monteleone  to  Cellamare,  October  15,  1715  :  « Si  el  s'r 
Duque  de  Orleans  logra  en  Francia  tantos  aplausos  como  se  los 
hazen  en  Inglaterra,  no  habra  havido  regente  mas  dichoso."  — 
Aff,  Etr. 

8  Instructions  to  Stair,  October  14  and  16, 1715.  Stair's  jour- 
nal, October  24. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.     377 

The  regent  might  thus  have  made  an  alliance  with 
England  on  terms  more  favorable  than  those  to  which 
he  at  last  agreed  ;  his  friendship  was  now  sought, 
while  later  he  was  himself  compelled  to  make  the  ad- 
vances. But  he  was  unable  to  decide  upon  this  policy. 
Most  of  his  advisers  were  filled  with  the  sympathy  for 
the  Stuart  cause  which  had  so  long  prevailed  at  the 
court  of  Louis  XIV.  Huxelles,  the  chief  of  the  coun- 
cil of  foreign  affairs,  Villars,  Torcy,  St.  Simon,  were 
all  eager  for  the  success  of  the  Pretender.  They  were 
sanguine  as  well.  Scotland  was  regarded  as  abso- 
lutely lost  to  the  house  of  Hanover.^  The  Jacobites 
assured  them  that  England  would  soon  follow  the 
example  of  the  sister  kingdom.  Even  if  this  were 
not  so,  the  French  ministers  consoled  themselves  with 
the  idea  that  a  Stuart  king  at  Edinburgh,  and  a  Ger- 
man king  at  London,  might  be  the  best  arrangement 
by  which  to  check  the  overweening  power  of  Great 
Britain.2 

Lord  Stair  was  pertinacious  in  his  efforts  to  induce 
the  regent  to  ally  himself  with  England.    He  obtained 

1  Papiers  de  Torcy,  i.  40,  MS.  Bib.  Nat.  Fr.  10,  670.  This 
valuable  r^sum^  of  the  foreign  relations  of  France  during  three 
years  was  made  by  Torcy,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  under 
Louis  XIV.  As  a  member  of  the  council  of  regency,  he  was 
familiar  with  Orleans's  policy,  and  as  superintendent  of  posts  he 
obtained  an  intimate  knowledge  of  diplomatic  intrigues  by  the 
simple  process  of  opening  and  reading  the  letters  that  passed 
through  his  hands.  "  It  is  not  pleasant  to  write  when  one  is  sure 
that  his  letters  will  be  opened,"  said  Stair,  letter  of  December 
11,  1715,  to  Bubb.  Such,  however,  was  the  practice  at  many 
other  courts,  as  well  as  at  that  of  France. 

2  Gazette  de  la  Regence,  January  17,  1716.  The  writer  claims 
that  he  was  told  by  members  of  the  council  of  regency  that 
they  would  assist  James  to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  but  did  not 
wish  him  to  obtain  also  that  of  England. 


378         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

plenty  of  fair  words,  but  no  treaty  of  alliance.  The 
irritation  of  the  English  at  such  conduct  was  not  with- 
out reason.  The  Jacobites  had  no  chance,  said  Stan- 
hope ;  the  folly  and  the  perversity  of  the  Pretender's 
supporters  were  stupefying,  and  so  also  was  the  weak- 
ness of  the  regent,  who  abandoned  his  own  interests 
to  please  those  imbeciles.  If  the  regent  now  regarded 
the  troubles  of  England  with  indifference,  declared 
Stair,  England  would  watch  with  equal  calmness  the 
embarrassments  in  which  he  might  afterward  be  in- 
volved.^ 

In  his  uncertainty,  the  regent  gave  fair  words  to 
both  sides,  and  he  gave  a  little  surreptitious  aid  to  the 
Jacobites.  Bolingbroke  was  at  Paris,  and  he  showed 
his  knowledge  of  the  weak  side  of  Orleans's  character 
by  the  bribe  which  he  proposed.  The  regent  was  any- 
thing but  a  model  father  of  a  family,  but  he  atoned 
for  neglecting  the  education  and  the  morals  of  his 
daughters  by  an  excessive  desire  to  get  them  well 
married.  Would  not  the  Chevalier  of  St.  George, 
suggested  Bolingbroke,  who  with  the  aid  of  France 
might  be  king  of  England,  be  a  very  eligible  hus- 
band for  one  of  them  ?  ^  Orleans  would  certainly  have 
been  pleased  to  see  James  III.  a  king,  if  one  of  his 
daughters  could  have  been  the  queen.^ 

However,  he  had  no  wish  to  involve  France  in 
war,  and  he  continued    to    play  a    part   which  was 

1  Papier s  de  Torcy,  i.  11  et  seq. 

2  Bolingbroke  to  James,  August  15  and  November  9,  1715. 

8  Bolingbroke  to  James,  November  9,  1715  :  "  I  have  opened 
a  new  door  of  access  to  the  regent.  He  has  still  the  marriage 
in  his  head,  and  a  little  good  fortune  would  make  the  bait  suc- 
ceed to  draw  him  on."  See,  also,  Iberville  to  Torcy,  September 
26,  1715. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,     379 

neither  dignified  nor  profitable.  He  allowed  some 
vessels  to  be  loaded  with  arms  for  the  use  of  the 
rebels.  Stanhope  said  that  unless  this  was  rectified 
forthwith,  it  would  be  regarded  as  an  open  declaration 
in  behalf  of  the  Pretender.  Thereupon  the  ships  were 
unloaded,  and  the  arms  were  stored  in  the  royal  ar- 
senal. At  the  same  time  Orleans  assured  the  Duke 
of  Ormond  of  his  friendship  for  the  cause,  and  of  his 
intention  to  furnish  an  abundance  of  supplies.^  The 
Pretender  had  to  be  content  with  small  favors  from 
timid  friends,  and  he  wrote  Orleans  that  he  could  not 
find  words  to  express  his  gratitude  for  all  the  marks 
of  friendship  which  he  had  received .^  The  English, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  outspoken  in  their  dissatis- 
faction. 

"  The  first  good  news  from  England  will  change  all 
this,"  wrote  Stair  to  Stanhope,  and  he  was  right.^ 
The  intelligence  of  the  Jacobite  defeats  in  Scotland 
produced  consternation  in  the  little  coteries  of  the 
Palais  Royal.  "  Two  days  ago  the  Chevalier  of  St. 
George  was  king  of  England  in  everybody's  mouth. 
.  .  .  To-day  they  begin  to  talk  of  him  as  the  Pre- 
tender." *  The  complete  overthrow  of  the  Jacobite 
cause  soon  followed.  Left  to  himself,  Orleans  had 
always  inclined  to  the  idea  of  an  English  alliance. 
His  advisers,  who  had  predicted  the  success  of  the  Pre- 
tender, were  shown  to  have  been  egregiously  wrong, 
and  they  had  only  succeeded  in  putting  their  master 

1  Ormond  to  Chevalier  of  St.  George,  October  21,  1715  ;  The 
Stuart  Dynasty,  401. 

2  James  III.  to  Orleans,  December  26,  1715,  cited  by  L^ 
montey. 

8  Stair  to  Stanhope,  November  12,  1715. 
*  Journal  of  Stavv,  December  1  and  2,  1715. 


380         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

in  a  most  embarrassing  position.  One  more  illustra- 
tion was  furnished  of  the  fact  that,  whenever  France 
tried  to  help  the  Stuarts,  she  always  involved  herself 
in  trouble  without  doing  them  any  good.  The  Duke  of 
Orleans  showed  more  readiness  to  proceed  to  formal 
negotiations  with  England  than  he  had  before  mani- 
fested. The  repentant  offender  was  not,  however,  at 
once  restored  to  the  good  graces  of  his  former  friends. 
George  felt  that  he  had  befriended  Orleans  when  he 
was  in  need  of  help,  and  in  return  the  regent  had  at 
most  stood  neutral  when  his  ally  was  in  peril.  If  the 
English  king  had  not  been  harmed  by  the  insurrec- 
tion, he  had  been  a  good  deal  frightened,  and  he 
considered  the  regent  to  have  shown  himself  an  un- 
grateful trifler.  Lord  Stair  courteously  but  firmly 
presented  to  the  criminal  a  list  of  his  misdeeds.^  The 
regent  was  a  difficult  man  to  get  the  better  of  in  a 
controversy  of  this  kind.  He  was  now  warm  in  his 
congratulations  at  the  happy  success  of  King  George. 
The  best  proof  that  he  had  given  no  aid  to  the  Pre- 
tender was,  he  said,  the  notorious  fact  that  the  Stuart 
prince  had  landed  in  Scotland  entirely  unprovided 
with  arms  or  munitions  of  war.^ 

/  The  English  were  still  ready  to  enter  into  a  treaty 
with  France,  but  their  eagerness  had  passed  with  the 
danger  that  excited  it.  Before  any  alliance  could  now 
be  made,  the  regent  must  show  that  he  was  sincere  in 
his  protestations  of  friendship  by  driving  the  Preten- 
der to  the  other  side  of  the  Alps.  The  present  French 
republic  has  been  criticised  because  it  is  unwilling  to 
allow  those  who  assert  a  right  to  the  French  throne 

^  See  memorial  of  Stair,  printed  in  Lamberty,  Memoires  pour 
servir  a  Vhistoire  du  dix-huitihne  siede^  t.  ix. 

2  Stair's  journal,  March  10,  1716  ;  Lainberty,  ix.  388. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.      381 

to  enjoy  the  protection  of  a  government  which  they 
desire  to  overthrow.  The  English  were  not  content 
with  such  mild  measures  in  reference  to  the  Stuart 
family.  George  wished  to  pursue  his  unfortunate  rival 
beyond  the  limits  of  civilization  ;  no  one  could  furnish 
bed  or  board,  fire  or  shelter,  to  the  homeless  wanderer, 
and  expect  any  favors  from  England. 

By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Louis  XIV.  had  agreed 
to  expel  the  Pretender  and  his  followers  from  France. 
The  Chevalier  of  St.  George  had  found  refuge  in 
Lorraine,  and  the  regent  had  declined  to  demand  of 
its  duke  that  he  should  abandon  the  luckless  fugi- 
tive.^ After  the  failure  of  the  rising  in  1715,  the 
English  government  itself  made  the  request.  The 
Duke  of  Lorraine  did  not  care  to  give  offense  to  a 
powerful  state,  and  he  requested  James  to  leave. 
The  prince  thereupon  went  to  Avignon.  That  city 
was  part  of  the  papal  dominions,  and  it  hardly  seemed 
as  if  France  had  any  business  to  interfere  with  his 
stay  there.  But  Avignon  was  surrounded  by  French 
territory  ;  from  it  the  chevalier  could  easily  commu- 
nicate with  his  French  sympathizers.  Orleans  was 
informed  that,  as  a  preliminary  to  any  treaty,  he  must 
not  only  expel  the  English  Jacobites  from  France, 
but  he  must  bring  sufficient  pressure  to  bear  upon 
their  chief  to  compel  him  to  move  on.  When  the 
Pretender  was  once  safely  beyond  the  Alps,  George 
was  ready  to  make  a  treaty  of  alliance,  but  this  was 
an  indispensable  prerequisite .^ 

The  regent  was  willing  to  make  the  removal  of  the 
Pretender   from  Avignon   one   of   the    articles  of   a 

1  Lamberty,  Reponse  au  Memoire,  389. 

2  Stair  to  Bubb„March  30, 1716  ;  Stanhope  to  Stair,  April  27, 
1716  ;  Stair  to  Stanhope,  May  9,  1716. 


382         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

treaty  ;  lie  would  agree  that  the  Stuart  prince  should 
actually  leave  that  city  before  the  treaty  was  finally 
ratified ;  he  wished  with  all  his  heart,  he  said,  that 
the  chevalier  was  already  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Alps.^  But  to  chase  a  defeated,  luckless,  and  friend- 
less prince  from  one  of  the  few  places  in  Europe 
where  he  could  hope  for  refuge  was  neither  an  agree- 
able nor  a  dignified  occupation.  If  such  a  step  were 
a  condition  of  a  treaty  of  alliance,  it  might  be  re- 
garded in  France  as  a  political  necessity;  but  even 
if  the  Pretender  were  expelled  from  Avignon,  Orleans 
was  not  certain  that  the  English  would  then  agree 
on  terms  acceptable  in  other  respects.  His  conduct 
would  be  regarded  by  his  people  as  alike  odious  and 
ridiculous,  if  he  should  join  in  the  pursuit  of  an  un- 
happy man  who  had  done  him  no  harm,  and  should 
not  obtain  for  France  the  benefits  of  an  alliance  with 
England.  Thus  the  negotiations  were  brought  to  a 
standstill.  "  The  French  have  sent  the  Pretender  to 
Avignon;  if  they  are  sincere,  let  them  find  some 
means  to  get  him  out,"  said  Stanhope.  "  I  wish  he 
would  leave,"  replied  the  regent,  "  but  I  don't  want 
to  drive  him  out  by  threats  of  stopping  the  pension  of 
the  former  queen  of  England,  and  then  find  myself 
as  far  as  ever  from  a  treaty  of  alliance." 

It  was  now  that  the  Abb^  Dubois  appeared  on  the 
stage.  He  is  not  entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  ori- 
ginated the  idea  of  an  alliance  between  France  and 
England.  Nor  was  it  owing  to  his  skill  as  a  diploma- 
tist that  the  English  at  last  agreed  to  the  alliance, 
for  other  complications  made  the  English  government 
as  desirous  for  it  as  it  had  been  during  the  Jacobite 
rising.  But  he  succeeded  in  holding  his  volatile  mas- 
1  Stair  to  Stanhope,  May  2,  1716. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.     383 

ter  to  a  policy  which  was  for  his  own  interests  and 
for  the  interests  of  France  :  by  his  adroitness  and 
his  zeal,  he  smoothed  over  difficulties,  softened  the 
asperity  of  Stanhope,  soothed  the  susceptibilities  of 
George  ;  he  accomplished  more  in  a  few  days  of  per- 
sonal conference  than  the  dignitaries  of  the  council 
of  foreign  affairs  could  have  done  in  as  many  years  of 
stately  diplomacy. 

The  English  king  set  out  for  Hanover  in  July, 
1716,  accompanied  by  Stanhope.  On  the  2d  of  that 
month,  Dubois  left  Paris  for  the  Hague,  in  order  to 
try  the  effect  of  a  personal  interview  with  the  Eng- 
lish minister.  So  irregular  a  procedure  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  functionaries  of  the  foreign  office, 
but  the  regent  was  not  turned  from  his  purpose.^ 
Dubois  was  so  adroit  that  he  might  be  of  use,  and  so 
insignificant  that  he  could  do  little  harm.  At  the 
Hague  the  unofficial  diplomat  assumed  to  be  an  ama- 
teur in  search  of  rare  books  and  pictures,  a  rSle  for 
which  he  was  well  fitted.  He  met  Stanhope,  with  whom 
he  had  been  on  friendly  terms  in  former  years,  and  he 
endeavored  to  pave  the  way  for  an  alliance  between 
two  princes,  whose  interests  he  declared  to  be  the 
same,  and  who,  if  once  united,  could  look  with  indif- 
ference on  the  hostility  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  His 
master,  replied  Stanhope,  had  once  been  eager  to  as- 
sist Orleans,  but  he  had  been  chilled  to  the  heart  by 
the  belief  that  the  duke  had  furnished  assistance  to 
the  Pretender.  Whether  that  prince  remained  at  Rome 
or  Avignon,  said  the  secretary,  he  regarded  as  a  mat- 
ter of  perfect  indifference:  if  ever  France  sent  an 
army  to  invade  England,  it  needed  only  the  Pretender 

1  Memoires  secrets  de  Dubois.  These  memoirs,  arranged  by 
S^velinges,  contain  many  valuable  documents  and  letters. 


384         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

at  the  head  of  it  to  insure  its  failure  ;  but  his  master 
wished  to  have  the  Stuart  prince  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Alps.  These  and  similar  questions  were  debated 
between  the  English  secretary  and  the  French  abbd, 
with  the  result  that  Stanhope's  disinclination  for  an 
alliance  with  France  was  considerably  diminished.^ 

Dubois  brought  into  his  negotiations  a  vivacity 
which  appears  in  his  correspondence.  The  diplomacy 
of  the  day  had  a  formal  and  a  dignified  phraseology ; 
it  used  many  words  to  say  little.  It  had  a  speech 
to  itself,  like  the  technical  and  redundant  tautology 
of  the  law.  Dubois  thought  that  the  language  with 
which  ordinary  humanity  expressed  its  ideas  was  good 
enough  to  discuss  treaties.  It  had  the  merit  of  being 
much  more  intelligible  than  the  accredited  forms.  His 
dispatches  remind  one  of  Le  Sage  in  their  lightness  of 
touch,  and  in  their  humor.  In  speech  as  well  as  in 
character,  Dubois  had  something  of  Gil  Bias. 

This  informal  conference  had  one  most  important 
effect :  it  convinced  Stanhope  and  his  master  that  the 
regent  was  acting  in  good  faith,  and  really  desired  an 
alliance  with  England.^  Other  events  soon  made  the 
English  king  equally  desirous.  As  Elector  of  Han- 
over, he  was  involved  in  disputes  with  the  northern 
powers.  He  feared  a  war  with  Russia ;  he  was  already 
embroiled  with  Sweden ;  the  possibility  of  a  combina- 
tion between  the  Czar  and  the  regent  appalled  him.^ 
He  became  anxious  for  an  alliance  with  France,  and 

^  For  the  detail  of  this  interview,  see  Dubois's  dispatch  of  July 
23,  1716,  the  fullness  of  which  may  be  imagined  from  the  fact 
that  it  occupies  177  pages.  It  is  as  vivacious  as  it  is  long.  See, 
also,  letters  of  Stanhope  to  Townsend,  July  21,  23,  1716. 

2  Stanhope  to  Stair,  August  3,  1716. 

^  This  appears  clearly  from  the  letters  of  Stanhope  published 
in  Wiesener,  Le  Regent  ^  UAhhe  Dubois  et  les  Anglais  j    Stan- 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,      385 

the  captious  objections  by  which  an  agreement  of  that 
nature  had  been  delayed  were  waived. 

In  August,  Dubois  went  to  Hanover,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  negotiations  with  Stanhope,  and  had  inter- 
views with  the  king  himself.  The  abbe  was  indefat- 
igable. Conferences  went  on  day  and  night.  He 
writes,  "  We  negotiated  .in  our  dressing-gowns  and  in 
our  nightcaps."  Where  both  parties  were  eager,  it 
was  not  difficult  to  agree,  but  there  remained  some 
stumbling-blocks.  The  English  were  willing  to  main- 
tain the  rights  of  the  regent  to  the  French  throne, 
but  if  this  were  put  in  so  many  words  it  would  give 
abundant  opportunity  for  his  enemies  to  revile.  They 
would  declare  that  the  very  wording  of  the  treaty 
showed  that  Orleans  had  sacrificed  France  to  secure 
his  own  interests.  Dubois  wished  that  the  English 
should  guarantee  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  by  which  the 
same  result  would  be  attained  without  its  appearing 
so  boldly.^  But  how  could  Whig  ministers  consent 
to  guarantee  a  treaty  which  they  had  so  often  de- 
nounced in  Parliament  as  an  infamous  surrender  of 
the  rights  of  England  and  her  allies  ?  The  difficulty 
was  at  last  adjusted   by  choosing  for  the  guaranty 

hope  to  Townsend,  September  25,  1716  :  "  I  was,  you  know, 
very  averse  at  first  to  this  treaty,  but  I  think  truly,  as  matters 
now  stand,  we  ought  not  to  lose  a  minute  in  finishing  it."  Stan- 
hope to  H.  Walpole,  October  6,  1716  :  "  Since  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  matters  may  come  very  soon  to  an  open  rupture  between 
the  Danes  and  Muscovites,  for  which  reason  his  Majesty  is  de- 
sirous of  giving  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  treaty  with  France 
as  soon  as  possible."  To  Townsend,  October  9  :  "  Had  it  [the 
treaty]  been  less  advantageous  than  I  think  it  really  is,  the  situ- 
ation of  affairs  in  the  north  made  it  absolutely  necessary  to  close 
with  France."  —  Letters  in  Coxe's  Memoirs  of  Walpole^  vol.  ii. 
1  Stanhope  to  Methuen,  August  24,  1716. 


386    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

those  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  which  had 
regulated  the  succession  of  the  French  throne,  and 
secured  the  rights  of  the  house  of  Hanover  in  Eng- 
land. On  other  debated  questions  an  agi'eement  was 
also  reached.  In  October,  a  preliminary  convention 
between  the  two  countries  was  signed  by  Stanhope 
and  Dubois.^ 

It  has  been  said,  from  that  day  to  this,  that  Dubois 
received  a  pension  from  England  for  betraying  the 
interests  of  his  country.  The  difference  in  the  sums 
supposed  to  have  been  paid  shows  that  the  charge 
rests  on  no  authentic  information.  One  writer  says 
that  the  pension  was  50,000  crowns.  Another  has 
it  100,000.  The  imagination  of  St.  Simon  goes  far 
beyond  these  figures.  He  says  that  Dubois  received  a 
pension  of  40,000  pounds  sterling,  a  sum  that  would 
be  equivalent  to  a  million  dollars  a  year  now.^  The 
amount  would  be  a  sufficient  refutation  of  the  charge. 
As  matter  of  fact,  no  one  has  ever  found  in  the  Eng- 
lish or  the  French  official  papers  the  slightest  evi- 
dence that  he  received  a  penny.  Certainly  there  was 
no  need  to  give  him  a  pension  of  40,000  pounds,  or  of 
one  pound,  to  make  him  eager  for  an  alliance  with 
England.  Such  a  measure  he  believed  to  be  for  the 
interests  of  his  master,  and  upon  it  rested  his  hopes 
for  his  own  advancement.  It  would  have  been  much 
more  natural  if  an  endeavor  had  been  made  to  bribe 
Stanhope,  who  at   the  beginning  was  hostile  to  an 

1  A  formal  treaty  between  England  and  France  was  signed 
at  the  Hague  on  November  28,  and  this  was  replaced  by  the 
treaty  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  signed  January  4,  1717. 

2  St.  Simon,  XV.  313.  St.  Simon  intimates  that  this  pension 
began  in  1718.  Others  think  it  must  have  begun  when  the 
Triple  Alliance  was  made. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,     387 

alliance  with  France,  and  that  is  exactly  what  was 
done. 

Dabois  described  the  transaction  to  his  master: 
"  When  our  negotiations  at  Hanover  were  undecided, 
I  found  so  natural  an  opportunity  to  make  to  M.  Stan- 
hope the  offer  which  you  directed,  that  I  hazarded  the 
compliment,  and  I  was  never  more  delighted  than  to 
see  that  he  allowed  me  to  say  it  all,  even  to  naming 
the  price,  which  I  fixed  at  600,000  livres,  to  which 
he  listened  graciously,  and  without  flying  into  a  pas- 
sion.^ My  satisfaction  was  increased  when  he  replied 
that  your  Royal  Highness  was  so  great  a  prince  that 
no  one  need  blush  to  be  the  object  of  your  generosity. 
.  .  .  Since  then,  I  have  spoken  of  this  matter  again 
seven  or  eight  times."  ^ 

At  the  last,  Stanhope  refused  to  take  the  money. 
He  expressed  his  gratitude  to  the  regent,  but  he  would 
not  receive  the  bribe.  Dubois  declared  that  his  con- 
duct was  heroic.  The  adroit  abbe  did,  indeed,  view 
life  from  the  standpoint  of  Gil  Bias.  To  us,  the  re- 
fusal seems  less  heroic,  but  standards  of  honesty  have 
changed.  An  English  statesman  of  this  generation 
would  kick  downstairs  a  man  who  made  an  offer  such 
as  Stanhope  listened  to  graciously ;  but  if  he  listened 
and  deliberated,  he  refused  at  last.  Many  and  per- 
haps most  statesmen  of  that  age  would  have  accepted. 
"  It  is  the  only  thing  in  the  negotiation  in  which 
I  have  entirely  failed,"  writes  Dubois  ruefully.  But 
he  was  allowed  to  indulge  in  other  courtesies.  When 
ambassador  to  England  in  1718,  he  writes  the  regent 
to  send  some  of  the  choicest  brands  of  champagne 
and  burgundy.     "  The  best  and  the  strongest,"  says 

^  "  Ce  qu'il  ^couta  gracieusement  et  sans  se  gendarmer." 
2  Dubois  au  regent,  October  30,  1716. 


388         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

the  abbe,  "  and  I  supplicate  your  Koyal  Highness  to 
have  them  selected  by  a  connoisseur."  Half  of  this 
was  for  the  king,  and  half  for  Stanhope.  The  sec- 
retary could  appreciate  such  a  courtesy.  Dubois  de- 
scribes one  of  the  interviews  in  Hanover,  which  fol- 
lowed a  dinner  given  by  Stanhope  to  some  Germans. 
The  English  minister  declared  that  the  ordeal  had 
been  severe.  He  had  thirteen  German  guests,  and 
they  had  consumed  seventy  bottles  of  wine,  besides 
five  or  six  of  strong  liquors.  Still  Stanhope  was  able 
to  acquit  himself  honorably,  even  in  an  encounter  of 
such  gravity,  and  after  the  dinner  was  over  he  talked 
politics  with  Dubois  for  four  hours.  The  abbe,  who 
lived  most  abstemiously,  wrote  his  master  that  wine 
extracted  the  truth  even  from  the  most  taciturn.^ 

As  the  success  of  the  negotiations  was  assured,  Du- 
bois began  to  receive  the  honors  to  which  his  victory 
entitled  him.  He  again  visited  the  Hague,  but  he  no 
longer  stopped  at  obscure  taverns,  in  the  disguise  of 
an  itinerant  collector  of  pictures.  He  was  made  am- 
bassador. He  appeared  in  state.  "  I  have  bought 
six  beautiful  black  mares,"  he  writes  with  much  glee. 
Dubois  had  waited  long  for  the  pomps  of  the  world, 
and  he  enjoyed  them  thoroughly  when  at  last  he  had 
secured  them.  He  was  nervously  anxious  at  the  delay 
in  the  final  ratification  of  the  treaty.  "  These  delays 
have  cost  me  more  tears  than  would  fill  a  pail,"  he 
wrote  his  master.  This  was  not  the  style  which  the 
ambassadors  of  Louis  XIV.  used  in  their  dispatches 
to  the  king,  but  it  expressed  the  idea.  At  last  the 
great  wo-rk  was  done ;  the  treaty  was  signed,  the  vision 
of  future  honors  was  already  present  to  the  abbe's 
ambition.  "  I  signed  at  midnight,"  he  writes  the  re« 
1  Dubois  au  rdgent,  November  4,  1716. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,     389 

gent ;  "  I  am  happy  to  have  been  honored  with  your 
orders  in  a  matter  so  important  for  your  welfare,  and 
I  am  more  indebted  for  this  mark  of  confidence  than 
if  you  had  made  me  a  cardinal."  ^ 

Holland  decided  to  join  in  the  agreement  which 
had  been  made  between  England  and  France,  and  on 
January  4,  1717,  the  treaty  was  signed  at  the  Hague, 
which  is  known  as  the  Triple  Alliance.  By  this  in- 
strument the  three  states,  in  order  to  preserve  their 
own  tranquillity  and  the  peace  of  Europe,  guaranteed 
the  observance  of  those  articles  of  the  peace  of 
Utrecht  by  which  the  succession  to  the  throne  of 
Great  Britain  was  confirmed  in  the  Protestant  line,  in 
conformity  with  the  acts  of  Parliament,  and  by  which 
the  succession  to  the  crown  of  France  was  regulated. 
In  other  words,  they  confirmed  the  exclusion  of  Philip 
and  his  heirs  from  the  French  throne,  and  guaranteed 
the  succession  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  if  Louis  XV. 
died  without  children.  The  powers  agreed  to  furnish 
assistance  in  money  and  troops  to  any  one  of  the  three 
which  should  be  attacked  by  any  other  state  or  prince.^ 

It  was  provided  that  the  Pretender  should  not  be 
allowed  to  reside  in  France,  Lorraine,  or  Avignon, 
and  that  no  one  of  the  three  countries  would  furnish 
an  asylum  to  the  fugitive  rebels  of  the  others.  The 
works  which  had  been  begun  at  Mardyck  were  to  be 
destroyed,  or  so  changed  that  they  could  not  be  used 
for  the  refuge  or  equipment  of  ships  of  war.  The  pro- 
visions of  this  article,  to  which  the  English  attached 
great  importance,  were  regulated  in  minute  detail.^ 

^  Dubois  au  regent,  January  4,  1717. 

2  A  separate  article  between  France  and  Holland  limited  this 
agreement  to  European  possessions. 

8  The  treaty  in  French  is  published  in  Dumont,  Corps  Dip,, 
viii.  484^88. " 


390  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

Before  the  final  ratifications  of  the  treaty  were 
exchanged,  the  Pretender  was  requested  to  leave 
Avignon.  He  offered  to  go  without  resistance  if  the 
regent  would  promise  to  pay  his  debts,  and  this  con- 
dition was  at  once  accepted.  On  February  6,  1717, 
he  abandoned  Avignon,  crossed  the  Alps,  and  sought 
refuge  in  Rome.  There  at  last  he  was  allowed  to 
rest  in  peace. 

The  Triple  Alliance  changed  the  policy  of  France ; 
she  joined  hands  with  a  country  which  was  regarded 
as  an  hereditary  enemy ;  as  a  result  of  the  alliance, 
French  armies  within  two  years  were  marching  against 
a  Bourbon  king  of  Spain.  Such  a  measure  was  loudly 
condemned  by  those  who  were  imbued  with  the  politi- 
cal principles  of  Louis  XIV.  It  is  still  condemned 
by  many  French  historians  as  an  abandonment  of  the 
legitimate  policy  of  France.  It  would  seem  to  be 
supposed  that  some  law  of  nature  required  that  France 
should  always  be  hostile  to  England,  and  that  she 
should  forever  waste  her  substance  in  order  to  further 
the  interests  of  any  prince  who  had  the  blood  of  Louis 
XIV.  in  his  veins. 

The  Triple  Alliance,  like  any  other  political  mea- 
sure, must  be  judged  by  its  results.  What  France 
needed  was  peace.  She  had  no  interests  of  her  own 
to  be  subserved  by  war ;  and  yet  it  is  probable  that 
if  she  had  remained  isolated  in  Europe,  she  would 
soon  have  been  embroiled  with  some  of  her  neigh- 
bors. The  Triple  Alliance  was  sufficiently  strong  to 
secure  peace  and  to  enforce  it.  The  Emperor  was 
obliged  to  abandon  his  hopes  of  stirring  up  a  new  war, 
by  which  he  might  gain  more  of  the  possessions  of 
Spain,  Philip  V.,  after  an  insignificant  contest,  was 
obliged  to  abandon  his  designs  for  a  war  by  which 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,      391 

he  might  recover  from  Austria  some  of  what  she  had 
already  taken.  The  policy  of  both  these  countries 
was  to  claim  everything,  and  to  concede  nothing. 
Both  were  compelled  to  accept  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht,  and  to  leave  Europe  for  a  little  while  at 
peace.  France  had  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  in- 
creasing prosperity  which  lay  before  her  during  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Undoubtedly,  his  personal  interests  led  Orleans  to 
seek  the  friendship  of  England.  In  this  there  was  no 
wrong.  If  Louis  XV.  died  leaving  no  male  descend- 
ants, the  throne  of  France  had  been  secured  to  Orleans 
by  a  treaty  to  which  all  the  great  powers  of  Europe  were 
parties,  and  by  the  solemn  renunciation  of  Philip  V. 
It  was  as  proper  for  him  to  protect  his  rights  in  France, 
as  for  the  house  of  Hanover  to  protect  its  rights  in 
England.  He  could  justly  claim  that  his  interests  and 
those  of  the  French  nation  were  identical.  His  acces- 
sion to  the  throne  would  have  been  viewed  with  ap- 
proval by  the  nations  of  Europe ;  it  would  not  have 
involved  France  in  war ;  it  would  have  saved  the  land 
from  the  rule  of  a  sickly  and  bigoted  imbecile  like 
Philip  V. 

A  sentimental  cry  was  raised  that  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans had  abandoned  the  Stuart  cause,  that  he  refused 
the  hospitality  of  France  to  Catholic  and  legitimate 
princes.  It  was  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  laments 
that  the  regent  only  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  that 
bulwark  of  monarchy  and  Catholicism,  Louis  XIV. 
By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Louis  had  promised  to  ex- 
pel the  Stuart  princes  from  France,  to  give  them  no 
further  aid  nor  comfort,  to  recognize  the  Protestant 
succession  to  the  English  throne.  He  had  wisely 
agreed  to  these  terms  in  order  to  obtain  peace  for  his 


392         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

country.  The  regent  cannot  be  blamed  for  consent- 
ins:  to  conditions  similar  to  those  embodied  in  the 
great  treaty  which  closed  the  war  of  the  S]3anish  Suc- 
cession. 

There  was,  indeed,  a  difference  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  provisions  of  the  two  treaties  were  per- 
formed. Torcy  and  the  other  ministers  of  Louis  XIV. 
continued  their  intrigues  with  the  Jacobites.  They 
pursued  the  fallacious  policy  of  trying  to  force  a 
Catholic  king  upon  a  Protestant  nation,  —  a  policy 
which  for  twenty-five  years  had  been  a  failure,  and 
which  had  helped  to  involve  France  in  disaster  and 
disgrace.  They  acted  in  bad  faith,  and  Orleans 
and  Dubois  acted  in  good  faith.  The  policy  of  the 
regent  was  both  more  honest  and  more  wise.  "  If  you 
furnish  an  army  to  the  Pretender,"  wrote  Dubois  to 
his  master,  "  what  is  the  result  ?  A  war  where  you 
will  encounter  all  the  ancient  enemies  of  France,  and 
will  have  for  allies  a  handful  of  Jacobites,  who  con- 
spire better  than  they  fight."  These  were  words  of 
wisdom,  and  the  French  people  had  reason  to  be  grate- 
ful to  Orleans  that  he  decided  to  heed  them. 

Not  only  did  Orleans  make  friends  with  England, 
said  the  enemies  of  the  treaty,  but  he  neglected  the 
true  interests  of  France ;  he  abandoned  the  Spanish 
alliance  ;  he  lost  the  fruits  of  thirteen  years  of  war 
which  France  had  endured  in  order  to  place  a  Bour- 
bon on  the  throne  of  Spain.  A  century  and  a  half 
later  we  find  a  judicious  historian  like  Martin  declar- 
ing that  the  regent,  for  his  selfish  interests,  overthrew 
the  policy  of  Eichelieu  and  Louis  XIV.  and  chained 
France  to  England. ^  Such  expressions  can  only  be 
explained  by  the  tendency  to  accept  without  examina- 
^  Histoire  de  France,  xv.  122. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE.     393 

tion  what  has  often  been  said.  An  alliance  with  Spain 
had  been  no  part  of  the  policy  of  Richelieu.  War 
had  raged  between  the  two  countries  during  almost 
the  whole  of  his  administration.  No  more  had  it  been 
the  policy  of  Louis  XIV.  He  had  constantly  been  at 
variance  with  the  Spanish  kings.  The  boundaries  of 
France  had  been  enlarged  from  the  spoils  of  the  Span- 
ish monarchy.  Because  a  Bourbon  king  had  been 
established  on  the  Spanish  throne,  was  France  neces- 
sarily to  find  her  true  interest  in  a  perpetual  union 
with  that  country  ?  The  facts  of  history  are  the  best 
answer.  The  fifteen  years  during  which  Louis  XIV. 
had  Spain  for  an  ally  were  the  most  disastrous  years 
of  his  reign.  Under  Fleury  an  alliance  was  again 
made  with  Spain,  and  the  interests  of  France  were 
imperiled  in  the  endeavor  to  obtain  advantages  for 
the  children  of  the  Spanish  queen.  Later  in  the  cen- 
tury Spain  had  increased  in  strength,  and  was  a  more 
important  factor  in  the  politics  of  Europe  than  under 
Philip  V.  Yet  what  did  France  gain  by  the  famous 
family  compact?  She  gave  away  Louisiana  to  con- 
sole her  ally  for  the  losses  which  it  suffered.  An  alli- 
ance with  Spain  always  proved  an  incubus  to  France, 
and  history  furnishes  no  record  of  anything  which  she 
ever  gained  by  it. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  regent  to 
have  had  Philip  V.  as  a  friend,  no  matter  how  much 
he  might  have  desired  such  a  result.  Philip  regarded 
Orleans  as  a  future  rival  to  the  French  throne ;  he 
entertained  for  him  the  hatred  of  a  dull  man  for  a 
clever  man,  of  a  bigot  for  a  free-thinker.  At  the 
beginning  of  his  administration  the  regent  made  ad- 
vances to  Spain,  but  he  met  with  no  encouragement. 
His  ambassador  was  informed  that  Spain  no  longer 


394         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

needed  the  counsels  of  France,  that  the  king  of  Spain 
desired  himself  to  enjoy  the  liberty  which  he  allowed 
to  others.^ 

Philip  V.  was  a  man  superstitious  in  belief,  false  in 
heart,  and  feeble  in  intellect.  His  wife  was  a  shrew, 
whose  only  passion  was  a  fierce  affection  for  her  off- 
spring, as  blind  and  as  cruel  as  that  of  some  wild 
beast.2  It  was  impossible  to  make  any  union  with 
them,  except  by  involving  France  in  perpetual  wars 
with  half  of  Europe,  in  order  to  obtain  for  the  Span- 
ish king  the  provinces  which  he  coveted  but  was  not 
powerful  enough  to  conquer. 

Nor  was  the  idea  of  an  English  alliance  any  start- 
ling innovation  in  French  politics.  The  sagacity  of 
Mazarin  had  obtained  England  as  an  ally,  and  by  her 
help  he  had  brought  a  long  war  with  Spain  to  a  suc- 
cessful termination.  Louis  XIV.  nad  been  the  ally 
of  England  almost  without  intermission,  until  Wil- 
liam III.  mounted  the  throne.  The  change  of  dynasty 
did  not  forbid  such  a  policy  for  the  future.  The 
Georges  were  not  possessed  of  the  crusading  ardor  of 
William  against  France.  An  alliance  with  England 
was  not  a  departure  from  the  policy  by  which  France 
had  grown  great.  All  that  Orleans  abandoned  of  the 
traditions  of  France  was  the  insane  delusion  which, 
for  twenty-five  years,  had  identified  the  glory  of  that 
country  with  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts.  The  chief 
enemies  of  the  Triple  Alliance  were  those  whose  rabid 
Catholicism  had  already  done  so  much  harm.  The 
alliance  with  England  secured  peace  and  prosperity. 

1  St.  Aignon  to  king,  February  3,  1716. 

2  Dodington  wrote  Stanhope,  in  1716,  that  the  absolute  con- 
trol of  Spanish  policy  would  belong  to  the  highest  bidder  for 
the  queen's  sons. 


DUBOIS  AND  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIANCE,     395 

The  wars  with  England  later  in  the  century  entailed 
the  loss  of  a  foreign  empire. 

The  regent  consented  to  abandon  the  works  at  Mar- 
dyck,  but  this  was  carrying  out  the  conditions  of  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  by  which  Dunkirk  was  to  be  dis- 
mantled. An  exaggerated  importance  was  attached  to 
this  provision,  but  Lille  had  been  restored  to  France 
as  compensation  for  it,  and  it  should  have  been  exe- 
cuted in  good  faith. 

It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which 
Dubois  and  all  his  works  were  reviled,  that  even  the 
wording  of  the  treaty  has  been  the  subject  of  the 
most  unmeasured  condemnation.  In  the  duplicate  of 
the  treaty  kept  by  the  English,  George  was  described 
as  king  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  while  Louis  XV. 
was  designated  as  the  most  Christian  king.  Indignant 
patriots  have  declared  that  the  heir  of  Louis  XIV. 
was  not  even  allowed  the  use  of  his  own  name.^  Not- 
withstanding the  eminence  of  the  historians  who  have 
repeated  this  charge,  it  would  not  have  been  advanced 
by  any  one  who  had  been  at  the  trouble  of  reading 
the  wording  of  prior  treaties  between  France  and 
England.  In  precisely  this  form  they  had  been  drawn, 
not  only  at  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  but  in  treaties  made 
between  Louis  XIV.  and  Charles  II.  when  the  latter 
was  the  pensioner  of  the  former.  In  this  manner  the 
protocol  of  the  duplicate  in  Latin  was  always  expressed. 
The  French  copy  gave  the  name  of  the  French  mon- 
arch first,  and  described  both  him  and  his  English 
brother  by  their  real  and  not  by  their  imaginary  titles. 
In  the  body  of  all  these  treaties  the  French  monarch 
was  uniformly  described  as  the  most  Christian  king. 
When  Dubois  was  supposed  to  be  lowering  the  dignity 
^  See  both  L^montey  and  Martin. 


396         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  France  at  the  behest  of  a  foreign  state  whose  pen- 
sioner he  was,  he  was  only  following  the  precedents 
authorized  by  the  most  powerful  and  the  most  punc- 
tilious king  that  ever  sat  on  the  French  throne.^ 

The  criticisms  on  the  form,  as  well  as  on  the  su'i- 
stance,  of  the  treaty  by  which  the  Triple  Alliance  was 
made,  seem  destitute  of  good  ground.  The  prince  who 
ratified  it  may  have  been  an  unprincipled  libertine, 
the  abbe  who  framed  it  may  have  been  an  unscrupu- 
lous adventurer,  but  the  policy  which  it  established 
was  for  the  true  interests  of  France. 

1  This  subject  is  discussed  at  length,  and  with  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  question,  in  the  work  of  M.  Wiesener.  It  is 
not  important,  except  as  it  illustrates  the  manner  in  which  many 
of  the  criticisms  on  Dubois  and  the  regent  were  made  by  those 
who  were  not  willing  to  be  at  the  trouble  of  familiarizing  them- 
selves with  the  facts. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    QUADRUPLE    ALLIANCE    AND    WAR    WITH    SPAIN. 
1718-1720. 

The  establishment  of  a  Bourbon  prince  on  the  throne 
of  Spain  was  regarded  as  the  great  and  final  achieve- 
ment of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  The  critics  of  the 
regent  denounced  his  failure  to  act  in  harmony  with  that 
sovereign  as  the  unpardonable  error  of  his  adminis- 
tration. It  is  well,  therefore,  to  consider  the  charac- 
ter and  the  policy  of  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV., 
who  for  forty-six  years  reigned  in  Spain,  exercising 
an  authority  uncontrolled  either  by  popular  or  by 
aristocratic  institutions. 

Philip  was  a  youth  of  seventeen  when  he  was  chosen 
as  king  of  that  country  by  the  will  of  Charles  II. 
Intellectually,  he  was  less  developed  than  befitted  his 
years ;  of  education  he  had  not  so  much  as  most  boys 
of  ten  possess  now ;  in  will,  in  the  power  to  impress 
himself  on  men,  to  control  the  policy  of  the  great 
people  whom  he  was  called  upon  to  rule,  he  was  de- 
ficient to  an  extraordinary  degree ;  and  in  all  these 
respects  he  was  much  the  same  when  he  died,  an  old 
man  of  sixty-three,  as  when  he  mounted  the  throne, 
a  lad  of  seventeen. 

Such  a  youth  was  necessarily  controlled  by  those  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded,  and  Louis  XIV.  was  obliged 
to  give  careful  attention  to  their  choice,  in  order  to 


398         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

exercise  any  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Spain.  It  was 
in  vain  that  he  wrote  his  grandson  that  he  must  learn 
to  exert  his  own  volition,  to  be  able  to  say,  "I  will." 
The  letters  of  Louis  XIV.  to  the  young  king  were  as 
judicious  as  they  were  kindly,  but  they  were  without 
effect  upon  the  prince  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 
Philip  continued,  however,  submissive  to  the  orders 
which  he  received.  Sometimes  he  was  sullen  in  his 
obedience,  but  he  never  ventured  to  disobey  his  grand- 
father when  the  commands  were  peremptory.  He  re- 
tained also  an  affection  for  France  and  the  French, 
but  such  a  feeling  was  of  small  importance  in  so  weak 
a  person.  The  confidential  adviser  of  his  early  career 
wrote :  "  One  could  make  him  sign  a  league  against 
France  with  the  same  facility  that  he  would  sign  a 
passport."  ^ 

In  this  feeble  character  there  was  one  strong  pas- 
sion, but  it  served  only  to  render  the  sovereign  still 
more  dependent  and  despicable.  He  was  the  most 
uxorious  of  men.  The  most  ingenious  of  comic  writers 
have  been  unable  to  portray  a  condition  of  marital 
dependence  equal  to  that  of  the  monarch  of  the  most 
widely  extended  empire  in  the  world.  The  henpecked 
husband  whom  we  find  in  fiction  appears  a  man  of 
independent  will  and  fearless  character  when  com- 
pared with  Philip  Y.  of  Spain.  His  first  wife  was 
a  woman  of  sprightliness  and  capacity.  In  ruling  the 
kingdom,  she  found  some  consolation  for  a  life  every 
moment  of  which,  by  day  and  night,  was  spent  in  the 
society  of  a  taciturn  and  stupid  man.  Philip  was 
weak  enough  to  be  governed  by  his  wife,  and  weak 
enough  to  be  coaxed  by  others  into  trying  to  escape 
from  this  subjection.  One  of  the  French  ambassadors 
1  Louville  to  Torcy,  April  30,  1701.  . 


THE   QUADRUPLE    ALLIANCE.  399 

conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  relations  with  the 
Spanish  king,  of  which  his  female  rulers  should  have 
no  knowledge.  Philip  sent  communications  to  his 
grandfather,  which  were  prepared  by  him  and  the 
minister.  In  these  he  expressed  what  he  thought 
were  his  actual  desires.  He  also  sent  the  ordinary 
formal  letters,  which  were  dictated  by  his  wife,  or  by 
Mme.  des  Ursins  when  she  was  in  Spain.  "  Do  not 
put  any  confidence  in  the  official  letters  which  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  send  you,  in  order  not  to  disturb  the 
peace,"  wrote  this  most  weakly  of  princes.^ 

Louis  XIV.  had  the  feelings  of  a  king  and  of  a 
gentleman,  and  the  spectacle  of  his  grandson  confess- 
ing that  he  dared  not  express  his  real  sentiments, 
because  he  was  afraid  of  a  disturbance  with  his  wife, 
was  in  the  highest  degree  distateful  to  him.^  He 
knew  Philip's  character  well  enough,  also,  to  be  sure 
that  this  feeble  attempt  at  independence  would  be 
short-lived.  So  it  proved.  The  surreptitious  corre- 
spondence was  discovered.  The  penalties  imposed 
upon  the  erring  husband  are  a  secret  of  state,  but 
they  were  doubtless  severe.  During  the  forty  years 
that  Philip  remained  a  king,  he  never  again  ventured 
to  rebel  against  the  authority  of  his  wives.  He  now 
sent  a  formal  recantation  of  all  that  he  had  said  in 
his  personal  letters,  and  was  forgiven.^  The  corre- 
spondence is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  character  of 
those  whom  the  fortune  of  birth  sometimes  puts  in 
great  places. 

In  tracing  the  policy  of  Philip  V.  as  a  ruler,  we  are 
naturally  obliged  to  consider  the  sequence  of  his  wives. 

1  Philip  to  Louis  XIV.,  January  13,  1705. 

2  Louis  to  Philip,  February  1,  1705. 
8  Philip  to  Louis,  March  10,  1705. 


400  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

His  first  wife,  who  was  a  princess  of  Savoy,  died  in 
February,  1714.  In  June,  he  was  af&anced  to  a  prin- 
cess of  Parma.  In  September,  he  was  married  to  her 
by  proxy,  and  he  was  greatly  distressed  at  the  delays 
in  her  journey  to  Spain.  On  December  24,  she  at 
last  reached  her  impatient  spouse.  A  week  later  the 
French  charge  d'affaires  could  truly  write, ''  The  queen 
governs  the  king  despotically."  ^  The  authority  which 
she  acquired  in  the  honeymoon  she  never  allowed  to 
relax.  Her  arrival  was  accompanied  by  an  entire 
change  in  the  government.  She  dismissed  Mme.  des 
Ursins,  without  even  consulting  Philip,  and  the  king 
dared  show  no  resentment.^  He  earned  her  favor  by 
implicit  obedience  to  her  commands.^  His  life  with 
the  new  queen  was  spent  in  the  same  manner  as  with 
the  former  one.  An  existence  more  monotonous,  and 
apparently  more  wearisome,  could  hardly  be  con- 
ceived. It  was  a  perpetual  tete-a-tete  by  day  and 
night,  with  no  variation  from  the  1st  of  January  to 
the  31st  of  December.  Sickness  of  whatever  nature 
was  not  allowed  to  be  an  excuse  for  separation.  Their 
Catholic  majesties  rose  together,  dressed  together,  rode 
together,  ate  their  meals  together,  went  to  mass  to- 
gether, said  their  prayers  together.  The  queen  was 
allowed  a  few  moments  to  herself  during  her  toilet 
and  for  her  confession.  Even  that  must  be  brief. 
The  king  waited  in  the  next  room,  and,  if  he  thought 
that  she  was  occupying  too  much  time  in  the  confes- 
sion of  her  sins,  he  opened  the  door  and  called  to  her. 

1  Pachau  ^  Torcy,  December  31,  1714. 

2  Orry  k  Torcy,  January  5, 1715. 

8  Even  Torcy,  who  favored  Philip's  claims  to  the  French 
throne,  writes  :  "  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  king  will  fall  into 
proper  hands,  it  is  so  easy  to  abuse  his  goodness." — Torcy  to  St 
Aignan,  April  8,  1715. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE,  401 

Almost  every  day  the  king  played  at  the  mall.  Three 
times  he  went  down  the  long  mall  in  his  game,  and 
three  times  he  returned,  never  more  and  never  less. 
Though  the  queen  took  no  part  in  the  sport,  she  was 
required  to  follow  him  and  keep  constantly  at  his  left 
hand.  If,  in  talking  with  some  one,  she  fell  behind 
even  four  or  five  paces,  Philip  at  once  turned  round 
and  looked  at  her,  and  she  hastened  to  resume  her 
place. 

Every  day,  also,  the  king  and  queen  participated  in 
what  was  most  improperly  styled  the  chase.  Hunting, 
when  it  requires  exercise  and  skill,  and  still  more  when 
there  exists  an  element  of  danger  for  the  hunter  as 
well  as  the  hunted,  is  a  sport  the  manliness  of  which 
atones  for  any  appearance  of  cruelty.  It  was  far 
otherwise  with  the  butchery  which  furnished  the  daily 
amusement  of  Philip  V.  He  and  his  wife  were  driven 
to  the  rendezvous.  In  the  mean  time  three  or  four 
hundred  peasants  scoured  the  woods,  and  drove  before 
them  the  game  of  every  kind  with  which  these  were 
filled.  In  due  time  animals  of  various  sorts  began  to 
pass  before  the  inclosure  where  the  king  and  queen 
were  stationed,  and  they  fired  at  them  as  they  went 
by.  Nothing  came  amiss,  —  boars,  wolves,  deer,  hares, 
foxes,  martins.  Some  were  killed ;  many  more  were 
wounded,  and  crept  off  in  the  woods  to  die.  An  hour 
spent  in  butchering  barnyard  fowl  would  have  been 
quite  as  enlivening  and  manly  sport,  but,  such  as  this 
was,  it  furnished  endless  delight  to  the  Spanish  king.^ 

1  The  best  authority  for  the  detail  of  Philip's  life  is  St.  Simon, 
who  was  an  ambassador  at  Madrid,  and  who  always  describes 
with  equal  accuracy  and  vividness  what  he  saw  with  his  own 
eyes.  But  the  routine  of  Philip's  life  was  almost  as  well  known 
as  that  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  is  described  in  most  of  the  corre- 


402         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Philip's  religious  nature  was  as  narrow  and  super- 
stitious as  we  might  expect.  His  confessor  was  his 
constant  confidant :  to  him  he  disclosed  the  petty 
doubts  and  fears  which  disturbed  him  ;  how  should 
he  say  his  prayers  on  St.  Elizabeth's  Day ;  what  cere- 
monial must  he  follow  on  the  octave  of  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Holy  Trinity ;  at  what  moment  should 
he  begin  fasting;  at  what  moment  should  he  cease 
praying  ?  Such  questions,  solemnly  reduced  to  writ- 
ing, were  daily  presented  to  his  confessor,  and  have 
been  preserved  for  posterity.^  The  confessor,  who 
was  a  sensible  man,  told  him  that  it  was  not  alone 
prayers  and  penitence  which  made  a  saintly  king ;  that, 
if  he  would  occupy  himself  with  the  duties  of  royalty, 
he  could  accomplish  more  for  God's  glory  than  did 
many  preachers  and  missionaries.^  Such  advice  was 
unheeded.  Philip  was  in  constant  fear  of  dying,  and 
often  he  insisted  on  keeping  his  confessor  by  him  all 
the  night.  Frequently  he  awoke,  and  at  once  de- 
manded ghostly  counsel  on  some  doubt  that  had  tra- 
versed his  feeble  brain.  At  one  time  he  was  so  appre- 
hensive of  the  administration  of  a  secret  charm  or 
poison,  that  his  attendants  had  endless  trouble  to  in- 
duce him  to  change  his  clothes  or  his  linen. ^  The 
description  which  St.  Simon  gives  of  Philip  in  1721 
does  not  seem  strange,  when  we  consider  the  life 
which  he  had  led  for  twenty  years.  He  was  bent  and 
shrunken;  his  chin  projected,  his  gait  was  a  shuffle, 
his  speech  was  a  drawl,  and  his  appearance  imbecile.* 

spondence  of  the  time.     See  letters  of  St.  Aignan  and  the  other 
French  ambassadors  at  Madrid. 

1  They  are  still  preserved  among  the  archives  of  Alcala. 

2  Direccion  que  practicaba  S.  M.  Arch.  Alcala. 

^  St.  Aignan  k  Huxelles,  September  and  October,  1717. 
*  St.  Simon,  xvii.  350. 


THE  QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE,  403 

Such  was  the  prince  to  place  whom  on  the  throne  of 
Spain  half  a  million  Frenchmen  perished.  The  treas- 
ury was  bankrupt,  the  fields  lay  untilled,  trade  was 
stagnant,  misery  was  widespread  ;  and  all  this  that  a 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  might  reign  at  Madrid  with 
as  little  profit  to  Spain  as  to  France.  What  an  enor- 
mous price  to  pay,  and  what  a  beggarly  reward  to 
receive  ! 

Philip's  second  wife  possessed  a  character  as  vigor- 
ous as  his  was  weak.  She  was  a  woman  without  ex- 
perience in  affairs  of  state,  her  mind  was  narrow  and 
suspicious ;  but  she  had  an  active  intelligence,  untir- 
ing energy,  and  unusual  power  of  will.^  Two  sons  by 
Philip's  first  wife  were  living.  The  second  wife  also 
had  children.  There  seemed  slight  probability  that 
they  would  inherit  the  Spanish  crown,  and  her  ener- 
gies were  occupied  in  finding  thrones  and  principali- 
ties for  them  elsewhere.  For  that  end  she  had  no 
more  hesitation  in  involving  Spain  and  all  Europe  in 
war  than  has  a  tigress  in  killing  a  fawn  for  her  cubs. 
The  establishment  of  the  sons  of  Elizabeth  of  Parma 
controlled  the  politics  of  Spain  for  quarter  of  a 
century ;  it  wasted  many  lives,  and  produced  endless 
disturbance  in  Europe. 

Elizabeth  may  have  been  entitled  to  demand  advan- 
tages for  her  offspring  as  compensation  for  the  exist- 
ence which  she  was  forced  to  lead.  A  lifelong  tete-ci- 
tete  with  such  a  man  as  Philip  must  have  been  misery 
equal  to  that  caused  by  the  most  refined  and  ingenious 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition.  In  company  Philip  rarely 
opened  his  mouth,  and  with  his  wife  he  would  sit  for 

1  "  She  has  the  heart  of  Lombardy  and  the  wit  of  Florence," 
writes  the  Prince  of  Monaco  to  Torcy ;  "  Elle  veut  tres  f orte- 
ment,"  —  October  19,  1714. 


404         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

hours  in  silence.  When  he  did  talk,  it  was  of  the 
chase,  of  his  clothes  and  those  of  his  children.  And 
yet,  in  order  to  hold  her  ascendency,  the  queen  was 
obliged  to  keep  him  always  in  her  view.  Sometimes 
she  would  not  even  let  him  confess  in  secret.  He  loved 
flattery,  and  she  praised  him  constantly.  She  lauded 
his  skill  at  the  mall,  his  presence,  his  dress ;  she  even 
told  him  how  intelligent  he  was,  and  how  great  a 
king.^  A  resolute  woman  hesitates  at  nothing.  Though 
Philip's  character  was  feeble,  it  was  not  difficult  to 
induce  him  to  plunge  his  country  into  war.  He  had 
a  certain  vague  ambition,  a  desire  to  be  regarded  as  a 
powerful  king,  and  he  was  as  unscrupulous  as  mon- 
archs  who  possessed  greater  ability.  While  he  .waked 
his  confessor  at  night  to  get  instructions  as  to  the 
order  of  his  devotions,  he  had  no  regard  for  the  trea- 
ties he  signed,  or  the  oaths  he  swore ;  and  he  pursued 
with  a  stubborn  pertinacity  his  plans  for  obtaining 
anything  which  he  desired.  His  readiness  to  plunge 
Spain  and  France  in  war  to  accomplish  his  purposes, 
if  he  had  been  an  able  man,  would  have  made  him  a 
dangerous  man. 

In  order  to  conclude  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  Louis 
had  compelled  his  grandson  to  execute  a  renunciation 
of  his  rights  as  a  possible  heir  to  the  French  throne. 
It  was  asserted  by  those  who  opposed  the  treaty  then, 
and  by  those  who  have  condemned  it  since,  that  this 
renunciation  was  invalid.  When  the  English  ministers 
demanded  it  as  a  condition  of  peace,  Torcy  had  replied 
that  in  France  it  was  a  fundamental  law  that  the  near- 
est heir  received  the  throne,  not  from  the  preceding 
king,  but  directly  from  God,  and  that  this  divine  ordi- 

^  See  Memoires  de  St.  SimoUf  xvii.  and  xviii.,  during  his  em* 
bassy  at  Madrid. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE,  406 

nance  no  renunciation  could  afifect,  and  only  God 
could  alter.^  This  position  was  nonsensical,  ani  Torcy 
knew  it  quite  as  well  as  Bolingbroke.  The  argument 
was  advanced  to  make  the  English  desist  from  a  de- 
mand to  which  Louis  was  reluctant  to  accede.  There 
was  no  such  law  in  France.  Even  if  there  had  been, 
Bolingbroke's  answer  was  complete,  that,  though  God 
gave  a  prince  the  right  to  inherit,  there  was  no  law 
that  prevented  his  surrender  of  the  right ;  even  the 
most  strenuous  advocates  did  not  claim  that  the  law 
of  God  forbade  a  king  to  abdicate.  But  in  France 
there  had  never  been  any  positive  enactment  such  as 
Torcy  claimed,  nor  had  there  been  an  immemorial 
usage  which  should  take  the  place  of  written  law.  If 
the  throne  of  France  by  God's  decree  must  always 
descend  in  a  direct  line,  Louis  XIY.  was  an  usurper. 
Carlovingian  and  Merovingian  sovereigns  had  been 
dethroned ;  they  had  partitioned  the  territory  of 
France  among  themselves  to  suit  their  own  tastes; 
the  Bourbons  were  not  the  lawful  heirs  of  those  who 
had  once  ruled  in  that  land.  Even  if  Louis  XIV. 
was  a  lawful  sovereign,  it  w^as  certain  that  Philip  V. 
was  not.  He  was  king  of  Spain  by  virtue  of  the  renun- 
ciation of  his  father  and  his  older  brother.  If  Torcy 
was  correct,  that  a  prince  could  not  deprive  his  off- 
spring of  their  rights  by  birth,  then  the  infant  Louis 
XV.  was  manifestly  entitled  to  the  throne  of  Spain  as 
well  as  of  France,  and  the  renunciations  by  which 
Philip  had  been  placed  on  it  were  contrary  to  the  hiw 
of  God,  and  void.^     Philip  had  secured  his  rights  in 

1  Torcy  to  BoHiigbroke,  March  22,  1712  ;  to  Bonaac,  April  4, 
1712. 

2  This  argument  was  used  by  Louis  XIV.  when  he  was  en- 
deavoring to  persuade  Philip  to  sign  the  renunciation  to  the 


403    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Spain  as  a  compensation  for  yielding  his  possible 
rioflits  in  France. 

Though  the  renunciation  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was 
valid  by  the  laws  of  France,  as  well  as  by  the  laws  of 
common  sense  and  common  honesty,  yet  it  was  very 
doubtful  whether  it  would  be  observed.  A  similar 
doubt  enveloped  every  treaty  that  was  made.  The 
fact  that  sovereigns  violated  their  agreements  with 
facility  could  be  obviated  by  no  skill  in  the  framers 
of  treaties.  A  humorous  diplomat  had  suggested  that 
to  each  of  the  elaborate  phrases,  in  which  the  renun- 
ciation of  Philip  was  couched,  should  be  added  the 
words,  "  In  the  same  manner  as  was  expressed  in  the 
renunciation  of  Maria  Theresa,"  in  violation  of  which 
Philip  was  now  on  the  Spanish  throne. 

Louis  XIV.  regarded  the  instrument  executed  by 
the  king  of  Spain  as  in  all  respects  valid,  and  he  was 
distressed  when  Philip,  notwithstanding  his  scruples 
of  conscience  as  to  fasts  and  formulas,  declared  that 
he  would  not  respect  his  oaths  or  his  agreements.  "  I 
am  sure  that  you  regret  giving  occasion  to  the  charges 
that  you  are  seeking  pretexts  to  avoid  the  renuncia- 
tion to  which  you  have  solemnly  sworn,"  he  wrote  his 
grandson.^ 

The  only  check  upon  Philip  was  removed  when  his 
grandfather  died.  He  had  long  regarded  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  with  animosity.  During  the  war  of  the 
Succession,  Orleans  for  some  years  commanded  the 
armies  in  Spain.  When  Louis  XIV.  believed  that  it 
was  impossible  that  Philip  could  retain  the  Spanish 

French  throne.  **  II  ne  doit  point  avoir  de  peine  k  suivre  Tex- 
emple  de  ceux  qui  I'ont  placd  sur  la  trone."  —  Louis  k  Bounac, 
April  28,  1712. 

1  Louis  to  Philip,  August  14,  1714. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  40T 

throne,  Orleans  became  involved  in  some  indiscreet 
intrigues,  founded  on  his  own  contingent  rights  if 
Philip  were  compelled  to  abdicate.  There  was  nothing 
in  what  he  did  contrary  to  his  obligations  to  that 
sovereign,  but  his  conduct  was  injudicious.^  Mme. 
des  Ursins  conceived  a  strong  dislike  for  Orleans,  and 
Philip  disliked  what  she  disliked.  Subsequent  events 
had  only  strengthened  his  aversion.  At  last  Orleans 
obtained  the  regency,  which  Philip  wanted  for  him- 
self. He  entertained  for  the  regent  both  hatred  and 
fear.  His  terrors  were  increased  by  the  reports  of  Or- 
leans's crimes  which  were  sent  from  Paris.  Philip 
was  easily  led  to  believe  that  the  wicked  cousin,  who 
had  already  poisoned  his  brother,  was  now  seeking  an 
opportunity  to  poison  him. 

A  new  favorite  had  attained  to  power  in  Spain, 
and  for  four  years  controlled  the  destinies  of  that 
country.  Giulio  Alberoni,  like  so  many  of  those  who 
have  reached  the  highest  dignities  of  the  church,  was 
of  very  humble  extraction.  He  was  an  Italian,  born 
near  Piacenza,  and  was  the  son  of  a  gardener.  He  took 
orders,  obtained  the  good-will  of  the  Duke  of  Ven- 
d8me,  and  in  1711,  as  his  secretary,  first  visited  Spain. 
Two  years  later  he  was  appointed  consular  agent  for 
the  Duke  of  Parma,  whose  subject  he  was.  He  used 
his  influence  to  induce  Mme.  des  Ursins  to  choose  the 
niece  of  that  duke  as  Philip's  second  wife  ;  and  when 
Elizabeth  Farnese  had  arrived  in  Spain,  and  estab- 
lished her  wifely  authority  over  her  husband,  the  road 
lay  clear  for  Alberoni's  advancement.  He  was  of  the 
same  nationality  as  the  queen  ;  he  had  helped  her  to 

^  All  the  documents  and  evidence  in  reference  to  this  chapter 
of  Orleans's  life  can  be  found  in  Baudrillart,  Philippe  F.  et  la 
Cour  de  France,  t.  ii.  ch.  i. 


408    FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

the  position  wliich  she  held ;  he  enjoyed  her  entire 
confidence.  He  soon  became  the  prime  minister  of 
Spain,  and  exercised  in  that  country  a  despotic  au- 
thority. To  the  rule  of  a  French  princess  succeeded 
the  rule  of  an  Italian  priest.  Spain  seemed  to  be  un- 
able to  supply  men  from  her  own  soil  who  could  play 
any  part  in  the  state.  Alberoni  desired  to  be  made  a 
cardinal,  and  the  influence  of  Spain  was  exercised  to 
procure  him  this  honor.  Clement  XI.  hesitated.  So 
unfit  did  he  regard  Alberoni  for  the  purple,  that  he 
said  he  should  undoubtedly  burn  in  hell  if  he  made 
him  a  cardinal.  Even  if  the  Pope  entertained  such 
gloomy  apprehensions,  he  decided  to  run  the  risk.  In 
July,  1717,  Alberoni  was  declared  a  cardinal,  and  this 
dignity  increased  the  influence  which  he  already  pos- 
sessed. 

Alberoni  has  often  been  likened  to  Dubois.  Both 
had  risen  from  a  very  humble  social  position,  both 
were  violent  and  vulgar  in  their  speech  and  manner, 
both  were  eager  and  unscrupulous  in  pursuing  their 
own  advancement,  and  both  attained  the  highest  dig- 
nities of  the  church  and  state.  The  analogy  cannot 
be  carried  further.  Dubois  was  a  man  of  sagacity ; 
no  one  considered  more  carefully  than  he  the  condi- 
tion of  the  states  and  the  character  of  the  men  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal;  no  one  was  more  adroit  in 
persuading  others  to  adopt  his  own  conclusions.  Al- 
beroni possessed  the  reverse  of  these  qualities. 

He  has  been  compared  with  statesmen  like  Riche- 
lieu and  Mazarin  ;  it  has  been  said  that  under  favor- 
able circumstances  he  might  have  rebuilt  the  power 
of  Spain,  and  accomplished  results  as  brilliant  as  those 
effected  by  the  great  French  cardinals.  No  compari- 
son could  be  more  inaccurate.     The  essential  quality 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  409 

of  a  statesman  is  to  recognize  what  is  possible,  to 
abide  the  fitting  hour,  to  seize  the  opportunity  of 
to-day  and  watch  for  the  opportunity  of  the  morrow. 
But  Alberoni  was  a  dreamer.  His  political  schemes 
were  as  impracticable  as  those  of  his  royal  master. 
Like  a  petulant  child,  he  refused  the  advantages  which 
he  could  obtain,  because  they  were  not  all  that  he  de- 
sired. He  was  always  hoping  for  some  mysterious  turn 
of  affairs.  He  devised  vast  political  combinations, 
which  came  to  naught ;  he  hoped  to  conquer  England 
with  a  few  thousand  ill-equipped  troops,  to  overthrow 
the  authority  of  the  regent  by  means  of  a  handful 
of  discontented  intriguers.  He  failed  in  everything 
that  he  undertook,  because  he  would  never  recognize 
that  the  world  was  what  it  was,  and  not  what  he 
wished  it  to  be.  Alberoni  claimed  great  credit  for 
himself  because  he  organized  in  Spain  a  considerable 
navy  and  army,  because  he  did  something  to  rouse  that 
country  from  its  lethargy.  But  all  that  he  accom- 
plished by  his  energy  he  destroyed  by  his  foUy.^ 

The  cardinal  stimulated  all  the  vague,  ambitious 
hopes  which  agitated  Philip's  brain.  The  plans  of 
the  feeble  king  and  his  chimerical  minister  would 
have  required  the  power  of  Louis  XIV.  in  his  palm- 
iest days  to  have  any  chance  of  accomplishment.  AU 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  were  odious 
to  them,  and  they  were  eager  to  overthrow  the  arrange- 
ment by  which,  only  three  years  before,  the  peace  of 
Europe  had  been  made  and  the  crown  of  Philip  as- 
sured. Spain  must  recover  her  lost  possessions  in 
Italy ;  Gibraltar  must  be  restored ;  Parma  and  Tus- 

1  "  E  uomo  di  talento,  ma  non  da  ministro,  perche  violente, 
sdrucciolo  e  senza  prudenza,"  said  an  Italian  diplomat  who 
knew  him  well.  —  Relazione  di  Lascaris, 


410         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

cany  must  be  secured  for  the  sou  of  Elizabeth  Farnese. 
It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  most  powerful 
state  in  Europe  to  obtain  such  advantages,  and  they 
were  not  likely  to  be  accorded  to  one  of  the  weakest. 

An  unfriendly  policy  towards  the  regent  accorded 
with  the  prejudices  of  Philip  and  the  plans  of  Al- 
beroni.  A  new  treaty  was  made  with  England,  by 
which  she  secured  great  commercial  advantages.  On 
the  other  hand,  French  trade  and  French  merchants 
were  harassed.  They  were  subjected  to  heavier  im- 
positions than  when  Spain  was  governed  by  kings  of 
the  house  of  Austria.  The  French  ambassador  re- 
monstrated, but  without  success.  At  the  same  time, 
engineers  were  employed  to  repair  the  fortifications 
on  the  line  of  the  Pyrenees  towards  France,  which 
had  been  suffered  to  fall  into  decay.^  Such  was  the 
spectacle  presented  within  three  months  of  the  death 
of  Louis  XIV.  to  those  who  believed  that  ties  of  blood 
governed  the  policy  of  princes,  and  that  the  Pyrenees 
no  longer  existed.  Orleans  sent  to  Madrid  the  Mar- 
quis of  Louville,  who  had  formerly  been  an  intimate 
associate  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  but  Alberoni  was  too 
wary  to  allow  the  king  to  be  exposed  to  the  blandish- 
ments of  a  friend  of  his  youth.  Louville  was  met  with 
letters,  purporting  to  be  by  Philip's  order,  but  of  the 
existence  of  which  the  sovereign  was  perhaps  unaware, 
which  directed  him  to  return  forthwith  to  France.  It 
was  with  difficulty  that  he  found  a  physician  to  attend 
him  in  an  illness,  such  was  the  apprehension  of  any 
relations  with  a  man  who  was  distasteful  to  the  queen 
and  her  minister.^ 

1  See  letters  of  St.  Aignan  to  regent  and  to  Huxelles,  October 
and  November,  1715  ;  Papiers  de  Torcy,  i.  29  et  pas. 

2  See  letters  of  Louville,  July  and  August,  1716,  Aff.  Etr.  Esp,; 
Papiers  de  Torcy^  t.  i. 


THE  QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  411 

Baffled  in  his  attempts  to  remain  on  good  terms 
with  Philip,  the  regent  joined  the  Triple  Alliance. 
The  assertion  in  the  treaty  that  this  alliance  was 
made  to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  Europe  was  no 
idle  boast.  "Your  voyage  to  the  Hague,  Monsieur 
I'Abbe,"  said  Stanhope  to  Dubois,  when  the  instru- 
ment was  signed,  "  has  saved  the  waste  of  human  life. 
There  are  nations  who  will  be  indebted  to  you  for 
their  tranquillity,  though  they  do  not  know  it."  In 
pursuance  of  a  policy  that  was  alike  judicious  and 
humane,  the  endeavor  was  now  made  to  adjust  the 
points  of  contention  between  Austria  and  Spain,  and 
to  prevent  the  recklessness  of  Philip  and  Alberoni 
from  kindling  a  European  war. 

Spain  had  already  taken  the  first  step  towards  an 
appeal  to  the  sword.  Alberoni  constantly  declared 
that  the  Austrians  must  be  driven  from  Italy.^  Such 
a  purpose  would  have  been  deserving  of  sympathy, 
if  the  object  of  freeing  Italy  from  the  burden  of  Aus- 
trian occupation  had  not  been  to  subject  her  to  the 
incubus  of  Spanish  occupation.  Any  consideration 
for  national  interests,  or  affinities,  or  sympathies  was 
unknown  to  the  politics  of  this  period.  Such  ideas 
were  so  foreign  to  political  conceptions  that  they  were 
not  even  advanced  as  pretexts.  "  They  cut  and  pare 
states  and  kingdoms  as  if  they  were  Dutch  cheeses," 
wrote  Alberoni  of  the  statesmen  of  the  day.^  "After 
all,"  said  the  regent  to  Stair,  "  what  does  the  nation 
amount  to  ?  "  "  Very  little,"  replied  the  ambassador, 
"  until  a  standard  is  raised."  ^  The  standard  was  not 
raised  until  late  in  the  century. 

1  Papiers  de  Torcy,  passim. 

2  Alberoni  to  Dodington,  April  16,  1718.  The  policy  of  which 
he  complains  in  this  letter  was  also  his  own. 

8  Aff.  Etr.  Esp.,  Mem.  et  Doc,  135. 


412  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  Spanish  had  long  been  preparing  a  naval  force 
of  considerable  strength.  It  was  certain  that  an  ex- 
pedition was  contemplated  in  some  direction,  but  the 
real  object  was  concealed,  for  Alberoni  had  the  fac- 
ulty of  keeping  his  own  counsel.  To  the  Pope  he  inti- 
mated that  the  fleet  would  sail  against  the  Turks,  so 
soon  as  a  cardinal's  hat  was  bestowed  on  a  minister 
who  had  it  in  his  power  to  do  good  work  for  the  cause 
of  Christ.  In  August,  1717,  the  fleet  set  sail.  It  did 
not  proceed  against  the  infidels,  but  nine  thousand 
men  landed  on  the  island  of  Sardinia,  which  had 
been  ceded  to  Austria  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  The 
Emperor  was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Turks,  his 
Italian  possessions  were  scantily  garrisoned,  and  the 
Spanish  captured  the  island  without  difficulty. 

Thus  the  war  between  Spain  and  the  empire  was 
again  kindled,  and  it  seemed  probable  that  all  the 
parties  to  the  contest  of  the  Spanish  Succession  would 
soon  find  themselves  in  arms.  The  admirers  of  Albe- 
roni have  claimed  that  he  was  opposed  to  commencing 
hostilities,  but  was  forced  to  begin  war  at  the  express 
command  of  the  Spanish  king.  The  cardinal's  letters 
and  conversations  support  this  claim. ^  But  those  who 
suppose  that  Philip  V.  was  capable  of  insisting  upon 
so  important  a  measure,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his 
minister,  are  ignorant  of  his  physical  and  mental  con- 
dition. His  health  at  this  period  was  more  infirm  than 
usual,  and  during  the  autumn  his  life  was  in  danger. 
Alberoni  had  long  been  strengthening  the  Spanish 
army  and  preparing  a  fleet ;  he  was  not  a  man  who, 
like  the  father  of  Frederick  II.,  equipped  soldiers  for 

^  See  especially  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Popoli  of  June  10, 
1717,  which  is  so  often  regarded  as  decisive  as  to  Alberoni's 
wishes. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  413 

the  pleasure  of  looking  at  them.  In  June,  Alberoni 
wrote  a  strong  letter  declaring  that  Spain  was  not 
ready  for  war.  In  this  he  was  sincere.  He  had  not 
yet  been  elevated  to  the  cardinalate,  and  he  knew 
that  the  Pope  would  be  mortally  offended  when  he 
discovered  that  the  Spanish  expedition  was  intended 
for  Italian  invasion.  On  July  12,  Alberoni  was 
made  a  cardinal,  and  early  in  August  the  fleet  sailed 
for  Sardinia. 

The  hostile  measures  taken  by  Spain  increased  the 
desire  of  England  and  France  to  secure  the  continu- 
ance of  peace.  In  September,  1717,  Dubois  was  sent 
as  ambassador  to  London.  His  mission  was  accom- 
panied with  important  political  results ;  his  letters 
illustrate,  also,  many  of  his  own  peculiarities.  He 
was  charmed  with  England.  "  There  is  no  other 
country  in  the  world,"  he  writes,  "  where  one  can  see 
so  many  pretty  women."  ^  He  was  equally  impressed 
by  the  populousness  of  London.  The  Pont-Neuf,  lie 
said,  seemed  like  a  solitude  in  comparison.  The  abbe 
was  always  eager  to  make  friends,  and  he  scorned  no 
means  of  obtaining  their  favor.  He  ordered  dresses 
for  many  of  the  ladies  of  the  court.  He  describes  the 
complexion,  the  height,  the  figure,  even  the  color  of 
the  hair,  of  those  for  whom  they  were  intended ;  he 
directs,  with  anxious  attention,  the  manner  in  which 
the  trains  should  be  finished.  Nor  did  he  give  less 
attention  to  his  larder,  that  he  might  furnish  pleasure 
to  the  husbands  as  well  as  to  the  wives.  Perigord 
truffles  were  ordered,  cheeses  from  Brie,  and  marma- 
lades of  extraordinary  delicacy.  His  cook  fell  sick, 
and  he  was  in  despair.  The  names  were  sent  of  can- 
didates for  the  office,  and  he  criticises  them  with  a 
^  Cited  in  Aubertin,  U Esprit  publique  au  dix-huitieme  siecle. 


414         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

severity  befitting  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  "  You 
speak  of  the  cook  of  M.  d'Armenonville,  but  M. 
d'Armenonville  did  not  understand  good  living.  His 
brother,  the  Bishop  of  Orleans,  lived  on  salsify.  It 
is  impossible  that  a  good  officer  should  be  turned  out 
from  that  school."  ^ 

A  minister  who  was  diligent  in  small  matters  did 
not  neglect  those  of  more  importance.  The  regent . 
was  earnest  in  demanding  for  Spain  the  advantages 
which  might  reasonably  content  its  sovereign.  The 
English  sought  to  reconcile  the  Emperor  to  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht,  against  which  he  had  so  bitterly  protested. 
The  negotiation  was  long  protracted,  but  at  last  it  was 
agreed  between  I'rance  and  England  that  the  Em- 
peror must  acknowledge  Philip  as  king  of  Spain,  and 
Philip  must  surrender  any  claim  upon  the  possessions 
ceded  to  Austria ;  in  consideration  for  this,  Don  Car- 
los, Philip's  son  by  Elizabeth  Farnese,  should  be  rec- 
ognized as  heir  to  the  duchies  of  Tuscany  and  Parma, 
and  Sicily  should  be  ceded  to  Austria  by  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  who  was  to  receive  Sardinia  in  exchange.  The 
Spanish  must,  of  course,  withdraw  their  troops  from 
Sardinia  and  agree  to  keep  the  peace.^ 

These  terms  were  reasonable.  England  and  France 
asked  no  advantages  for  themselves ;  they  sought 
only  to  preserve  the  tranquillity  of  Europe.  But  an 
arrangement  that  was  fair  to  each  party  was  distaste- 

1  Letters  cited  by  Aubertin. 

2  These  negotiations  can  be  followed  in  the  correspondence 
between  Dubois,  the  regent,  and  Huxelles,  preserved  in  the 
Archives  des  Affaires  Etr anger es.  The  history  of  the  Quadruple 
Alliance,  from  the  Austrian  archives,  has  been  written  by  Weber, 
Die  Quadrupel  AllianZy  vom  JaJire  1718.  Equally  valuable  infor- 
mation is  found  in  Papiers  de  Torcy,  MSS.  Bib.  Nat. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE,  415 

f  ul  to  Spain  and  to  Austria.  The  Emperor  proposed 
an  alliance  with  France,  to  be  purchased  by  the 
surrender  of  Alsace  to  Germany ;  he  was  willing  to 
treat  with  England,  if  Majorca  and  Sicily  could  be 
secured  for  him,  without  allowing  Tuscany  to  fall  to 
the  lot  of  a  Bourbon  prince.  It  was  with  reluctance 
that  he  would  agree  to  renounce  the  title  of  king  of 
Spain,  though  it  was  as  visionary  as  if  he  had  called 
himself  the  king  of  Jerusalem.^  Dealing  with  these 
unreasonable  demands  was  not  an  easy  task,  but  it 
was  successfully  accomplished. 

The  secret  council  at  Vienna  displayed  an  unusual 
amount  of  sagacity.  The  minutes  of  its  proceedings 
recite  that,  in  the  hope  of  getting  more  by  waiting 
longer,  Austria  had  suffered  serious  disadvantages  at 
the  successive  treaties  of  Nimeguen,  Eyswick,  and 
Utrecht.^  It  was  thought  wise,  therefore,  not  to  delay 
in  entering  an  alliance  which  secured  the  fertile  island 
of  Sicily  in  exchange  for  the  barren  island  of  Sardinia. 
In  July,  1718,  an  agreement  was  signed  between 
France  and  England.  Austria  became  a  party  to  it 
in  August,  Holland  subsequently  joined ;  and  it  thus 
became  the  Quadruple  Alliance.^ 

Spain   was   asked   to   accede  to  the  terms  agreed 

1  Protokoll  der  Conferenz-Sitzung  vom  2  Februar,  1716  ;  kai- 
serliches  Rescript  an  Hoffman  vom  26  Juni,  1715,  cited  by  Weber. 

2  Weber,  31. 

3  The  treaty  is  found  in  Dumont,  viii.  531.  The  credit  for  the 
successful  termination  of  these  protracted  negotiations  belongs 
chiefly  to  Stanhope  and  Dubois.  One  is  surprised  to  find  in  the 
correspondence  that  St.  Simon  was  then  a  zealous  partisan  of 
Dubois.  "  He  told  me  you  could  be  sure  of  his  devotion,"  writes 
Chavigny.  It  was  probably  when  Dubois  as  cardinal  took  prece- 
dence of  the  duke,  that  St  Simon  discovered  how  wicked  a  man 
he  was. 


416  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

upon  by  the  four  great  powers.  Even  if  they  had 
been  less  favorable,  it  was  useless  for  her  to  op- 
pose them.  Spain  could  not  have  resisted  such  a 
combination  in  the  days  of  Philip  II.,  and  it  was 
folly  to  suppose  that  she  could  do  so  in  the  condi- 
tion to  which  she  had  fallen  under  Philip  V.  But 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  such  as  could  prop- 
erly have  been  accepted.  The  inheritance  of  the 
duchies  of  Tuscany  and  Parma  was  secured  to  a 
Bourbon  prince,  the  son  of  the  Spanish  queen.  In 
their  eagerness  to  avoid  war,  George  I.  and  his  min- 
isters were  willing  to  surrender  Gibraltar,  which  had 
been  captured  fourteen  years  before.  Spain  could 
have  escaped  the  humiliation  of  seeing  the  English 
flag  over  the  stronghold  where  it  still  floats,  almost 
two  centuries  later. ^  That  country  could  have  pursued 
her  course  of  material  improvement,  could  have  con- 
tinued to  strengthen  her  army  and  her  navy,  until  she 
might  have  assumed  a  position  in  Europe  not  in  all 
respects  inferior  to  that  which  she  formerly  occupied. 
It  was  necessary  to  abandon  the  dream  of  reconquer- 
ing the  possessions  surrendered  by  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht.  But  that  was  only  a  dream.  The  increased 
prosperity  of  Spain  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
she  was  relieved  from  the  care  of  distant  provinces 
which  had  cost  her  much  and  yielded  little.^  It  is 
the  conclusive  proof  of  Alberoni's  incompetency  that 
he  let  this  opportunity  go  by,  and  wasted  the  resources 

1  The  willingness  of  George  and  Stanhope  to  surrender  Gibral- 
tar as  a  condition  of  peace  appears  beyond  question  in  the  letters 
published  by  Coxe  and  in  Stanhope's  History  of  England,  as  well 
as  in  the  French  diplomatic  correspondence.  —  Letters  of  the 
regent,  and  Papier s  de  Torcy,  Stanhope  seems  always  to  have 
thought  that  Gibraltar  cost  more  than  it  was  worth. 

2  Dodington  to  Stanhope,  February  19,  1716,  cited  by  Coxe. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  417 

which  the  country  had  acquired  in  a  hopeless  struggle 
after  impossible  chimeras. 

The  offers  of  the  allied  powers  were  met  with  the 
gasconade  which  was  so  common  in  Spanish  diplo- 
macy. His  master,  said  Alberoni,  would  lose  forty 
crowns  before  he  would  agree  to  terms  so  humiliat- 
ing :  rather  than  consent  to  them,  he  would  die  fight- 
ing, sword  in  hand.^  Nancre,  the  French  ambassador, 
urged  the  acceptance  of  conditions  which  were  for  the 
true  interests  of  Spain.  "  Nancre  has  vomited  out  his 
proposals,"  wrote  Alberoni.  "  They  were  scandalous 
enough  to  be  worthy  of  an  Englishman."  ^ 

Undisturbed  by  the  combination  already  formed 
against  him,  the  cardinal  now  attacked,  without  notice 
or  provocation,  a  nation  with  which  Spain  was  at  peace. 
The  Spanish  proceeded,  with  utter  unconcern  as  to 
consequences,  to  seize  anything  they  wanted,  no  mat- 
ter to  whom  it  belonged.  Sicily  had  been  ceded  to 
Savoy  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  In  August,  1718,  a 
Spanish  fleet  sailed  to  that  island,  30,000  soldiers 
landed,  and  the  principal  towns  were  easily  captured. 
Such  an  invasion  seemed  so  extraordinary  that  it  was 
universally  believed  that  a  secret  alliance  had  been 
made  between  Philip  and  the  king  of  Sicily.  It  was 
not  the  fact.  When  Victor  Amadeus  found  himself 
deserted  by  his  former  allies,  he  sought  to  form  a  com- 
bination with  Spain,  but  the  plans  of  Alberoni  were  too 
chimerical  to  attract  him.  The  invasion  of  Sicily  now 
drove  him  into  the  Quadruple  Alliance.  It  was  rarely 
that  the  house  of  Savoy  made  a  treaty  by  which  it 
lost.  To  exchange  fertile  and  populous  Sicily  for 
rocky  and  barren  Sardinia  was  a  bad  bargain,  but 

1  Nancrd  to  regent,  April  26,  1718  ;  Papier s  de  Torcy,  pas. 

2  Alberoni  to  Cellamare,  April  16,  1718 ;  Papiers  de  Torcy. 


418  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Victor  Amadeus  saw  that  resistance  was  impossible. 
He  never  forgave  those  who  had  framed  the  alliance, 
and  found  his  only  consolation  subsequently,  when  the 
three  men  most  responsible  for  it  —  Stanhope,  Dubois, 
and  Orleans  —  died  suddenly,  and  without  opportunity 
to  save  themselves  from  perdition  by  obtaining  abso- 
lution for  their  sins. 

The  invasion  of  Sicily  compelled  the  allies  to  resort 
to  force.  An  English  fleet  sailed  under  Admiral  Byng, 
with  orders  to  resist  any  infraction  of  the  neutrality 
of  Italy  and  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht. 
His  instructions  were  communicated  to  Alberoni. 
The  cardinal  treated  the  English  fleet  as  he  treated 
everything  that  conflicted  with  his  desires :  he  paid  no 
attention  to  it.  With  true  Spanish  hauteur,  the  Eng- 
lish minister  was  informed  that  the  Chevalier  Byng 
might  execute  the  orders  that  he  had  received  from 
his  master.^  He  proceeded  to  do  so  without  delay. 
On  the  11th  of  August,  Byng  attacked  the  Spanish 
off  Cape  Passaro.  A  few  hours  were  sufficient  to  de- 
stroy the  fleet  with  which  Alberoni  had  expected  to 
rule  the  Mediterranean.  The  visions  of  Italian  con- 
quest were  dissolved  as  soon  as  they  were  brought 
in  contact  with  realities. 

Alberoni  still  persisted  in  a  desperate  struggle, 
trusting  to  fortune  to  come  to  his  aid.  He  had  hoped 
that  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  would  invade  England 
in  behalf  of  the  Stuart  cause.  The  death  of  that  er- 
ratic sovereign  put  an  end  to  such  plans,  and  the  car- 
dinal decided  to  revive  the  projects  of  Philip  II.  and 
undertake  the  conquest  of  England  himself.  In  1719, 
a  fleet  of  twenty-four  sail,  mostly  transports,  was  dis- 
patched to  conquer  the  greatest  maritime  power  of 
1  Note  of  July  15,  1718,  signed  by  Alberoni. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  419 

Europe.  A  storm  off  Finisterre  dispersed  the  new 
Armada,  and  saved  it  from  the  defeat  which  awaited  it. 

In  December,  1718,  England  formally  declared  war 
upon  Spain,  and  Stanhope  demanded  of  the  regent 
to  do  the  same.^  Orleans  had  bound  himself  to  this 
by  the  provisions  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance,  but  he 
was  loath  to  take  the  step.  He  desired  the  regency 
to  be  a  period  of  peace,  and  a  contest  with  Spain 
was  in  the  highest  degree  unpopular  in  France.  The 
coterie  which  cherished  the  traditions  of  Louis  XIV. 
regarded  a  war  against  his  grandson  as  an  impious 
and  a  fratricidal  measure.  Orleans  had  already  lost 
the  popularity  which  had  attended  the  beginning  of 
the  regency,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  increase  the  ill- 
favor  with  which  his  administration  was  regarded. 

The  measures  adopted  by  Philip  and  Alberoni  re- 
moved all  difficulties  from  his  path.  Though  the 
hopes  which  greeted  the  reforms  promised  by  the  re- 
gent had  been  disappointed,  the  thought  of  any  revolt 
against  his  authority  could  only  be  entertained  by  dis- 
contented visionaries.  Orleans's  power  was  as  firmly 
established  as  if  he  had  been  king  instead  of  regent, 
and,  after  sixty  years  of  implicit  obedience  to  the 
sovereign,  the  idea  of  open  resistance  was  foreign  to 
the  community.  The  great  body  of  the  population 
desired  peace  and  tranquillity,  and  cared  little  whether 
the  regent  made  an  alliance  with  England  or  with 
Spain,  whether  he  chose  Dubois  or  Maine  as  his  ad- 
viser. 

The  discontents  of  a  little  clique  were  enough,  how- 
ever, to  excite  the  hopes  of  Alberoni,  and  some  harm- 
less vaporing  was  dignified  with  the  importance  of  a 
dangerous  conspiracy.  The  Duke  of  Maine  had  been 
^  Craggs  to  Dubois,  November  28, 1718. 


420  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

deprived  of  the  rank  bestowed  on  him  by  the  fondness 
of  Louis  XIV.  A  very  small  portion  of  the  commu- 
nity took  any  interest  in  his  fortunes,  and  he  was  the 
last  man  to  become  the  leader  of  an  insurrection. 
Not  only  was  he  dull  and  inert,  but  he  was  suspected, 
and  not  unjustly,  of  a  lack  of  physical  courage. 
Among  a  nation  where  courage  was  highly  esteemed, 
and  was  almost  universally  possessed,  there  could  be 
no  more  fatal  defect  in  a  man  who  aspired  to  become 
a  leader.  To  do  Maine  justice,  he  had  not  the  least 
aspiration  for  such  a  role. 

His  wife  was  a  more  energetic  character.  Their 
chateau  at  Sceaux  had  long  been  a  centre  for  society 
and  literature.  Its  mistress  amused  herself  with  a 
constant  succession  of  fetes.  Plays  were  acted,  poets 
recited  verses,  courtiers  turned  compliments,  ladies 
exercised  their  charms.  The  duchess  founded  an  or- 
der called  the  Honey  Bees,  to  which  those  distin- 
guished by  fashion  or  by  wit  were  delighted  to  be 
admitted.  Fontenelle  was  one  of  the  ornaments  of 
her  little  court.  The  first  president  of  the  Parlia- 
ment there  displayed  his  talents  as  a  courtier,  which 
atoned  for  his  lack  of  any  talent  as  a  judge.  This 
charmed  existence  was  broken  in  upon  by  the  political 
misfortunes  of  the  Duke  of  Maine.  His  wife  aban- 
doned the  part  of  a  delightful  hostess  for  the  more 
serious  one  of  a  political  conspirator.  She  was  better 
fitted  for  the  former  r61e  than  the  latter.  A  few  no- 
bles of  small  importance  joined  in  conferences  where 
little  was  done  except  to  abuse  the  regent.  The 
Prince  of  Cellamare  was  then  Spanish  ambassador  at 
Paris.  The  relations  of  his  master  and  of  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  were  unfriendly,  and  those  who  were  of- 
fended with  the  regent  naturally  sought  the  counsels 


THE   QUADRUPLE   ALLIANCE.  421 

of  the  ambassador.  The  Duchess  of  Maine  and  some 
of  her  associates  conferred  with  Cellamare.  He  seems 
to  have  estimated  the  conspirators  at  their  just  weight, 
but  he  reported  their  plans  to  his  government.  Al- 
beroni  attached  to  them  an  undue  importance,  and 
he  directed  the  minister  to  continue  the  consultations. 
The  cardinal  hoped  that  a  few  uninfluential  intriguers, 
without  definite  plans,  and  without  means  of  exe- 
cuting what  plans  they  had,  could  overthrow  the  re- 
gent and  bring  France  again  into  close  alliance  with 
Philip.i 

These  intrigues  continued  for  some  months.  A  few 
persons  signed  papers  assuring  Philip  of  their  devo- 
tion and  of  their  willingness  to  serve  him.  The  young 
Duke  of  Richelieu  agreed  to  betray  the  town  where 
he  was  stationed  to  the  Spanish  king.^  He  began  his 
long  and  disgraceful  career  by  conduct,  the  baseness 
of  which  was  equaled  by  the  folly.  The  conspirators 
had  little  idea  of  what  they  wanted  to  do,  and  no 
idea  whatever  of  how  they  were  to  do  it.  Proclama- 
tions were  indited,  in  Philip's  name,  demanding  a 
session  of  the  States  General  of  France.  That  body, 
it  was  believed,  would  depose  Orleans  from  the  re- 
gency, would  renew  the  alliance  between  France  and 
Spain,  restore  to  Maine  his  forfeited  rank,  and  assure 
to  Philip  his  rights  to  the  French  throne.  The  only 
thing  in  which  the  plotters  showed  any  real  zeal  was 
in  discussing  the  verbiage  of  Philip's  proclamations. 
The  habitues  of  Sceaux,  who  were  pretending  to  be 
conspirators,  were  only  fitted  to  debate  questions  of 
grammar,  and  to  amplify  the  resonance  of  a  phrase. 

1  St.  Aignan  k  Huxelles,  August  28,  1718  ;  Alberoni  a  Cella- 
mare, August  20,  1718. 

2  Dubois  a  Berwick,  April  1,  1719. 


422  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

On  these  idle  schemes  Alberoni  continued  to  build  his 
hopes.  "  Do  not  leave  Paris,"  he  wrote  Cellamare, 
"  without  having  set  fire  to  all  the  mines."  ^  "  They 
are  mines  without  powder,"  replied  the  ambassador. 

These  intrigues  did  not  escape  the  vigilance  of  Du- 
bois. He  was  warned  of  their  existence  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1718,  but  he  was  in  no  haste  to  expose  them. 
Copies  of  many  of  the  papers  were  furnished  him  by 
an  unfaithful  employee  of  Cellamare.  In  December, 
two  gentlemen  were  sent  to  Spain  with  various  docu- 
ments of  the  conspirators.  At  Poitiers  they  were 
arrested  and  the  papers  seized.  Immediately  after 
this  the  official  residence  of  Cellamare  was  entered  ; 
his  letters  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  French 
government;  he  was  himself  arrested,  and  was  after- 
wards sent  out  of  France  under  a  strong  guard.  He 
protested  against  this  invasion  of  his  sacred  character, 
but  the  letters  which  had  passed  between  him  and 
Alberoni,  and  which  proved  that  the  Spanish  minister 
and  ambassador  were  encouraging  plots  against  the 
head  of  the  French  government,  showed  that  Cella- 
mare had  forfeited  the  immunities  to  which  his  office 
entitled  him. 

The  arrest  of  those  who  were  involved  in  these 
transactions  soon  followed.  The  Duke  of  Maine  had 
no  part  in  the  intrigues  of  his  wife,  and  knew  nothing 
of  them.  He  was,  however,  taken  into  custody,  and  he 
displayed  the  greatest  pusillanimity.  He  was  arrested 
at  Sceaux  and  carried  to  Dourlens.  During  the  long 
journey  he  hardly  spoke,  but  uttered  frequent  sighs 
and  sobs.  At  each  church  which  was  passed,  he 
bowed  profoundly,  crossed  himself,  and  muttered  his 
prayers.  At  his  prison  at  Dourlens  he  occupied  him- 
1  Alberoni  to  Cellamare,  December  14,  1718. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  423 

self  in  praying  for  deliverance,  and  when  lie  lieard 
any  sudden  noise  his  face  became  of  a  deathly  pal- 
lor.i  After  a  time  he  was  released,  but  it  was  long 
before  he  would  have  anything  to  do  with  his  wife, 
for  fear  that  her  unquiet  disposition  would  again  in- 
volve him  in  similar  peril.  She  was  also  arrested,  as 
were  many  of  her  confederates.  All,  with  one  ac- 
cord, sought  to  obtain  forgiveness  by  turning  state's 
evidence,  and  endeavoring  to  implicate  others. 

"  I  would  have  given  my  blood  to  save  you,"  wrote 
the  Abbe  Brigault  to  some  of  his  associates  whom  his 
confessions  involved,  "  but  you  know  the  obligations 
of  religion.  ...  I  cannot  hope  for  absolution  unless  I 
tell  the  whole  truth.  ...  I  must  follow  the  lights  of 
my  faith."  ^  All  were,  perhaps,  influenced  by  the  same 
motives.  The  Duchess  of  Maine  wrote  Orleans  that 
even  liberty  would  be  insupportable,  unless  she  could 
be  assured  of  again  enjoying  his  friendship.  Orleans 
contented  himself  with  the  terror  and  humiliation  of 
the  unfortunate  intriguers.  After  a  few  months'  im- 
prisonment, all  were  released  without  further  punish- 
ment.^ 

The  exposure  of  the  conspiracy  satisfied  the  pur- 
poses of  Dubois.  The  French  people  were  justly 
indignant  that  the  Spanish  prime  minister  had  en- 
couraged plots  against  the  head  of  the  government. 

1  Eelated  to  St.  Simon  by  Favancourt,  who  conducted  Maine 
to  Dourlens,  and  there  had  charge  of  the  prisoner. 

2  Abbe  Brigault  to  Mme.  de  Pompadour. 

8  All  the  papers  in  reference  to  this  abortive  conspiracy  are 
preserved  in  the  Archives  des  Affaires  Etrangeres.  Ldmontey 
has  published  the  most  important  of  the  depositions.  The 
agreeable  Memoirs  of  Mme.  de  Stadl  Delaunay  give  some  accu- 
rate, and  the  Memoirs  of  St.  Simon  some  inaccurate,  information 
on  the  subject. 


424  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  party  of  the  old  court  and  the  advocates  of 
Philip  V.  were  plunged  in  confusion.  In  January, 
1719,  war  was  declared  against  Spain.  In  answer  to 
this,  proclamations  in  the  name  of  the  Spanish  king 
were  published  in  France,  exhorting  the  people  and 
the  Parliaments  to  resist  the  tyranny  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  to  summon  the  States  General,  and  to  check 
a  fratricidal  war.  They  produced  no  effect.  The 
French  army  was  placed  under  the  command  of  the 
Marshal  of  Berwick,  the  bastard  son  of  James  II. 
He  was  a  man  who  recognized  no  obligations  but 
those  of  a  soldier.  He  conducted  the  campaign 
against  Philip  with  the  same  ability  that  he  had 
formerly  displayed  in  behalf  of  that  monarch. 

Philip  still  cherished  the  delusion  that  the  hearts 
of  the  French  people  were  unalterably  attached  to 
the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  The  jleurs  de  lis  were 
painted  on  the  Spanish  banners.  A  proclamation  in- 
vited the  French  soldiers  to  join  the  Spanish  army, 
and  assured  them  that  Louis  XV.  would  approve  their 
conduct  when  he  should  attain  his  majority.^  Neither 
officer  nor  soldier  in  the  French  ranks  heeded  this  ap- 
peal. Philip  seems  really  to  have  supposed  that  his 
appearance  would  dissolve  the  French  army ;  when  he 
discovered  his  illusion,  he  fell  into  a  deep  melancholy, 
and  left  the  queen  to  excite  the  ardor  of  the  Spanish 
troops. 

The  advance  of  the  French  met  with  few  obstacles. 
They  overran  Spain  with  little  more  resistance,  wrote 
one  of  their  officers,  than  the  Spanish  themselves  had 
met  with  in  the  conquest  of  Mexico  two  hundred 
years  before.  In  the  mean  time  the  Austrians  with 
superior  forces  encountered  the  troops  that  had  been 
1  Declaration,  April  27,  1719. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE,  425 

landed  in  Sicily,  and  the  English  ships  cruised  along 
the  defenseless  shores  of  Spain.  Even  Philip  and 
his  wife  began  to  realize  the  folly  of  the  contest 
which  they  had  excited.  A  final  endeavor  was  made 
to  draw  Orleans  from  the  alliance.  Philip  suggested 
a  scheme  by  which,  while  his  own  son  should  succeed 
to  the  French  throne  if  Louis  died,  Orleans  should  be 
consoled  with  the  formation  of  a  new  kingdom  for 
himself,  to  be  taken  from  France,  and  to  consist  of 
Burgundy,  Alsace,  and  French  Flanders.  Great  Bri- 
tain was  to  be  parceled  in  like  manner ;  the  Pretender 
would  have  Scotland  and  Ireland,  while  George  must 
be  content  with  England.^  This  proposition  was  one 
of  the  last  schemes  devised  while  Alberoni  remained 
prime  minister.  Certainly  a  man  who  could  invent 
and  propose  plans  so  chimerical  had  no  claim  to  be 
called  a  statesman. 

The  disasters  which  had  attended  Alberoni's  mea- 
sures weakened  the  influence  which  he  had  once  pos- 
sessed. The  allies  declared  that  his  dismissal  must 
be  the  price  of  peace.  His  unbounded  ambition  had 
been  the  sole  cause  of  the  war,  wrote  Stanhope,  and 
unless  he  was  removed  there  could  be  no  certainty  of 
permanent  tranquillity.^  The  Duke  of  Parma  advised 
his  niece  to  dismiss  the  cardinal,  and  Philip  yielded 
to  these  suggestions.  Alberoni  had  been  a  visionary, 
but  only  a  visionary  could  please  such  masters.  He 
had  at  least  been  zealous  in  their  service,  and  he  was 
now  treated  with  harshness.  He  was  ordered  to  leave 
Madrid  in  eight  days,  and  Spain  within  three  weeks. 
He  never  again  returned,  and  in  his  wanderings  in 
Italy  he  was  long  pursued   by  the  animosity  of  his 

1  Philip  to  Conti,  June  12,  1719. 

2  Stanhope  to  Dubois,  August  22,  1719. 


426  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

former  masters.  He  revenged  himself  by  telling  the 
truth  about  them.  Philip,  he  said,  was  an  uxorious 
bigot,  and  the  queen  was  a  firebrand  who  would 
kindle  the  flames  of  war  through  the  civilized  world. 
Both  the  Pope  and  the  Spanish  king  were  eager  to 
deprive  Alberoni  of  his  cardinalate,  but  the  common 
interest  of  the  cardinals  always  prevented  the  degTa- 
dation  of  any  one  who  had  been  clothed  with  that  dig- 
nity. Alberoni  even  contemplated  the  possibility  of 
being  a  candidate  for  the  papacy.  "  There  are  two 
obstacles,"  he  said  ;  "  I  am  only  fifty-five,  and  I  have 
not  the  reputation  of  being  a  fool."  ^  At  one  con- 
clave he  received  ten  votes,  but,  whether  he  was  too 
young  or  too  wise,  he  failed  of  an  election. 

Though  Alberoni  had  been  dismissed,  Philip  still 
persisted  in  his  extravagant  claims.  He  was  informed 
that  he  must  take  what  was  secured  to  him  by  the 
treaty  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance,  and  he  decided  to 
accept.  Once  again  he  swore  to  the  renunciation  of 
his  possible  rights  to  the  French  throne.  As  he  never 
for  a  moment  intended  to  observe  his  oath,  this  did 
not  disturb  him.  He  w^as,  however,  strenuous  in  his 
demands  for  Gibraltar.  The  English  replied  that 
they  had  offered  Gibraltar  to  obtain  peace,  but  the 
offer  was  no  longer  in  force  after  Philip  had  gone  to 
war  and  been  defeated.  It  was  at  last  agreed  that 
this  and  other  debated  questions  should  be  referred  to 
a  congress  of  the  various  powers  to  be  held  at  Cam- 
bray.  "  The  congress,"  said  Dubois,  "  will  occupy  half 
its  session  in  regulating  questions  of  etiquette,  and 
the  other  half  in  doing  nothing,  and  then  some  unfore- 
seen event  will  bring  it  to  an  end."  That  was  pre- 
cisely its  history.  The  various  plenipotentiaries  wasted 
1  Letter  of  Marcieu,  cited  by  L^montey. 


THE   QUADRUPLE  ALLIANCE.  427 

several  years  doing  nothing,  and  in  1725  Spain  and 
Austria  made  a  treaty  of  alliance,  and  arranged  be- 
tween themselves  the  unsettled  questions  of  the  Span- 
ish Succession. 

While  Spain  was  forced  to  remain  at  peace,  much 
to  the  advantage  of  the  country,  and  much  to  the  dis- 
content of  its  sovereign,  France  witnessed  the  de- 
velopment of  new  commercial  and  financial  systems, 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world,  and  which 
have  still  a  curious  interest  for  posterity. 


CHAPTER  Xin. 

LAW   AND   HIS   SYSTEM. 

The  system  of  Law  and  the  Mississippi  bubble 
represent  to  most  readers  only  a  crazy  speculation, 
resulting  in  a  disastrous  failure.  This  it  certainly 
was,  and  yet  it  is  a  chapter  of  financial  history  that 
is  not  without  value  even  in  our  day.  Its  originator, 
notwithstanding  the  fallacies  by  which  he  was  en- 
trapped, was  a  man  who  possessed  an  acute  and  in- 
ventive mind.  He  might  well  have  become  known 
as  one  of  the  fathers  of  modern  finance.  Unfortu- 
nately for  his  fame,  his  errors  proved  so  disastrous 
that  he  has  been  doomed  to  immortality  as  one  of  the 
greatest  of  financial  charlatans. 

John  Law  was  born  at  Edinburgh  in  1671.  His 
father,  William  Law,  was  a  goldsmith,  and,  as  was 
customary  at  that  period,  combined  with  his  trade  the 
care  of  moneys  intrusted  to  him,  and  many  of  the 
functions  now  discharged  by  bankers.  John  was  well 
educated  at  Edinburgh ;  he  is  said  to  have  displayed 
great  proficiency  in  mathematics,  and  especially  in 
the  intricacies  of  algebra.  His  father  died  leaving 
a  moderate  estate,  and  the  son  found  himself,  when 
little  more  than  a  lad,  possessed  of  a  handsome  face, 
agreeable  manners,  and  some  money.  It  was  not 
strange  that  he  should  have  devoted  himself  to  the 
pursuit  of  pleasure,  and  this  he  seems  to  have  done 
with  considerable  assiduity.    London  furnished  greater 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  429 

opportunities  for  a  young  man  with  such  tastes  than 
the  religious  and  sombre  society  of  Edinburgh.  In 
London,  Law  spent  several  years.  His  prepossessing 
manners  gained  him  friends,  but  he  was  known  chiefly 
by  his  skill  as  a  gambler  and  by  his  intrigues  with  wo- 
men. As  a  result  of  one  of  his  successes  in  gallantry, 
he  fought  a  duel  with  a  Mr.  Wilson,  and  killed  him 
on  the  spot.  For  this  crime  he  was  tried,  convicted 
of  murder,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung.  While  the  laws 
against  dueling  were  severe,  public  opinion  viewed 
such  offenses  with  leniency,  and  Law  obtained  a  par- 
don. Through  some  interference  of  Wilson's  family 
he  was  kept  in  prison,  but  he  succeeded  in  making  his 
escape,  and  sought  refuge  on  the  Continent. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Bank  of  England  had  been 
organized,  and  the  successful  operation  of  that  insti- 
tution undoubtedly  attracted  Law's  attention.  After 
leaving  England,  he  spent  some  time  at  Amsterdam, 
and  made  a  close  study  of  the  bank,  which  had  there 
been  in  operation  for  almost  a  century.  Its  workings 
differed  from  those  of  its  English  rival  and  from 
modern  institutions.  It  had,  however,  rendered  great 
services  to  commerce,  and  its  directors  justly  claimed 
for  it  a  large  share  in  fostering  that  business  pros- 
perity and  financial  solidity  in  which  the  Seven  Prov- 
inces excelled  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Law  had  a  natural  taste  for  mathematical  combina- 
tions ;  for  the  laws  which  underlie  the  fluctuations  of 
trade,  as  well  as  for  those  which  govern  the  turn  of 
the  card.  By  grasping  the  principles  of  finance,  and 
applying  them  to  the  business  transactions  of  the 
world,  he  believed  that  he  could  achieve  results  far 
more  dazzling  than  from  the  most  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  chances  in  faro  or  ecarte.     His  mind  was  es- 


430  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

sentially  that  of  the  inventor.  A  distrust  of  innova- 
tions was  then  a  marked  characteristic  of  public  sen- 
timent, and  especially  was  this  true  of  finance.  The 
fundamental  laws  of  that  science,  which  are  still  a 
mystery  to  many,  were  then  unknown  to  almost  all. 
The  innumerable  abuses  which  hindered  commerce 
found  few  or  none  to  question  them.  Alike  states- 
men and  merchants  preferred  to  follow  traditions 
which  were  abundantly  incrusted  with  age.  Novelty, 
on  the  other  hand,  attracted  Law  instead  of  repelling 
him.  Respectable  aldermen  and  opulent  burgesses 
might  assert,  with  common  consent,  that  gold  was  the 
only  wealth,  but  this  did  not  convince  his  inquiring 
mind.  The  eighteenth  century  was  destined  to  be  one 
of  innovation  in  almost  every  branch  of  thought.  Law 
was  early  affected  by  the  breath  of  change,  and  he 
applied  the  spirit  of  inquiry  to  the  financial  questions 
which  possessed  an  irresistible  attraction  for  his  mind. 

The  discoveries  which  he  believed  himself  to  have 
made  he  was  eager  to  impart  to  the  public.  He  re- 
turned to  Scotland,  and  published  a  proposal  for  sup- 
plying the  nation  with  money.  That  these  sugges- 
tions should  have  contained  many  errors  is  not  strange ; 
if  adopted,  they  would  certainly  have  plunged  that 
country  in  disastrous  confusion,  and  rendered  worse 
a  condition  that  was  already  bad.  It  is  more  sur- 
prising, and  may  well  discourage  those  who  believe  in 
the  development  of  the  human  intellect,  that  the  same 
fallacies  find  credence  two  centuries  later,  in  the  most 
advanced  commercial  nations,  and  are  sufficiently  ad- 
vocated to  constitute  a  menace  to  national  prosperity. 

Though  Law  himself  became  involved  in  delusions, 
he  had  sufficient  acuteness  to  detect  those  of  others. 
In  the  project  which  he  presented  to  his  Scotch  fellow- 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  431 

citizens,  as  in  his  subsequent  writings,  he  exposed 
errors  which  were  then  implicitly  believed  by  almost 
every  man  in  Europe.  He  stated  correctly  the  nature 
of  money.  Gold  and  silver,  he  said,  were  not  received 
by  any  arbitrary  convention  ;  they  circulated  at  their 
absolute  value  to  the  community,  as  would  any  other 
article  that  might  have  been  selected  as  a  medium 
of  exchange.  They  varied,  as  did  corn  and  copper, 
from  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand.  With  much 
acuteness  he  commented  on  the  depreciation  which 
the  medium  thus  chosen  had  undergone.  The  great 
fall  in  the  value  of  the  precious  metals,  resulting  from 
the  discovery  of  the  American  mines,  had  been  going 
on  for  two  hundred  years,  but  it  had  either  been  un- 
noticed or  misunderstoo(^.  Those  who  believed  that 
the  wealth  of  a  nation  was  measured  solely  by  the 
number  of  pieces  of  gold  and  silver  within  its  boun- 
daries, were  not  in  position  to  investigate  the  gradual 
rise  in  the  relative  value  of  all  articles  which  had  long 
been  progressing.  This  phenomenon  was  appreciated 
by  Law,  and  he  based  upon  it  some  of  his  arguments 
for  a  paper  currency.  The  piece  of  gold  which  would 
buy  a  bushel  of  wheat  two  hundred  years  ago,  he 
wrote,  would  now  only  buy  a  tenth  of  a  bushel :  thus 
the  material  chosen  for  currency,  because  it  was  not 
subject  to  fluctuation,  really  possessed  only  one  tenth 
of  its  former  value.  Instead  of  being  an  article  of 
extraordinary  stability,  it  had  suffered  an  unprece- 
dented fall,  as  compared  with  other  commodities. 
While  Law  was  not  deceived  by  the  vulgar  fallacy 
that  a  nation's  wealth  consisted  of  its  store  of  gold 
and  silver,  he  declared  to  his  Scotch  readers  that 
ample  appliances  for  the  exchange  of  values  were  re- 
quired in  order  to  increase  their  commerce  and  aug- 


432  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

ment  their  prosperity.  Here,  also,  he  undoubtedly 
apprehended  justly  one  of  the  requirements  for  the 
great  industrial  development  of  modern  times.  It  is 
certain  that  the  business  of  London  could  not  be  done 
with  the  currency  of  Borneo ;  that  a  medium  by  which 
values  can  circulate  with  rapidity  is  as  requisite  as 
roads  on  which  commodities  can  be  conveyed  with 
speed.  The  growth  of  business  which  began  in  Law's 
time  required  other  means  for  its  transaction  than 
money  carried  about  in  sacks  from  shop  to  shop.  The 
stock  exchanges  of  London  and  New  York  could  not 
be  kept  open  for  a  day  with  such  facilities  for  credit 
and  means  of  payment  as  then  existed,  any  more  than 
the  freight  of  a  modern  railroad  could  be  transported 
over  a  mediaeval  highway. 

The  circulation  which  is  thus  required  as  a  concomi- 
tant of  industry  Law  believed  could  of  itself  create 
that  industry.  "  Wealth  depends  on  commerce,"  he 
wrote,  "  and  commerce  depends  on  circulation."  The 
Scotch  had  but  little  silver  and  gold,  and  therefore 
they  were  poor.  To  make  them  rich,  they  required 
banks  which  could  pour  forth  a  stream  of  currency 
that  would  make  the  valley  of  the  Clyde  and  the  fields 
of  Fife  blossom  with  prosperity,  that  would  transform 
the  shopkeeper  of  Edinburgh  into  the  merchant  prince 
of  Genoa  and  Amsterdam.  There  was  no  reason,  he 
declared,  why  Scotland,  with  many  natural  advantages, 
should  be  inferior  in  wealth  to  Holland  that  had  so  few. 
Indolence  and  a  lack  of  probity  in  the  Scotch  people, 
he  said,  were  the  reasons  given  for  their  backwardness. 
He  need  not  have  claimed  that  the  heavy  air  of  Hoi 
land  tended  equally  towards  sluggishness,  to  convince 
posterity  that  neither  sloth  nor  dishonesty  have  ever 
retarded  the  progress  of  the  Scotch  people. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  433 

Later  in  his  career,  Law  reached  the  point  of  issu- 
ing a  currency  which  had  no  security  save  the  promise 
of  the  sovereign  to  pay.  Such  a  course,  however,  he 
did  not  advocate  in  his  earlier  writings.  It  was  the 
fever  of  speculation  that  led  him  to  print  indefinite 
quantities  of  paper  bills  which  represented  no  real 
value.  To  the  Scotch  he  said  that  the  currency  which 
would  redeem  their  country  from  poverty  must  be 
based  on  values  which  would  give  it  credit.  "  Some 
objector  will  say,"  he  wrote,  "  that  paper  currency  is 
enabled  to  circulate  because  one  can  get  the  money 
for  it  when  he  desires."  Nothing  was  more  reasona- 
ble, he  admitted,  but  his  currency  would  be  still  more 
secure.  Gold  and  silver  were  the  basis  for  one  sys- 
tem, the  land  would  be  the  security  for  the  other. 
The  precious  metals,  as  he  had  shown,  fluctuated  in 
value  and  had  suffered  great  depreciation  ;  land,  on 
the  other  hand,  tended  constantly  to  become  more 
valuable.  Then,  also,  the  gold  that  was  in  circulation 
could  answer  no  other  useful  purpose,  while  the  land, 
which  secured  a  currency  that  should  replace  it,  would 
at  the  same  time  continue  to  produce  the  fruits  of  the 
earth.  It  would  yield  no  less  corn  or  oats  because 
the  paper  which  represented  its  value  was  paying  the 
laborer  his  wages  and  enabling  the  shopkeeper  to 
replenish  his  wares.  Law  proposed,  therefore,  that 
commissioners  should  be  authorized  to  issue  paper 
money  to  all  who  required  it,  to  be  secured  by  mort- 
gages to  the  value  of  two  thirds  of  the  land,  or  issued 
for  the  entire  value,  upon  the  land's  being  turned  over 
to  the  comiilission.  Such  a  currency,  he  said,  would 
necessarily  be  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity. In  other  words,  if  any  man  wanted  money, 
and  had  the  land  to  secure  it,  he  could  get  as  much  as 


434  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

he  required  ;  when  no  one  needed  money  there  would 
be  no  demand,  and  none  would  be  issued.  Thus  the 
currency  would  regulate  itself,  like  a  safety  valve. 
So  confident  was  he  of  the  superiority  of  such  a  me- 
dium of  circulation  over  gold  and  silver,  that  he  ad- 
vised a  provision  limiting  the  premium  on  paper  to 
ten  per  cent.  The  debtor  who  was  liable  for  one  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  whose  creditors  would  naturally  in- 
sist on  receiving  paper  currency  for  their  pay,  might  be 
relieved  from  his  obligation  by  tendering  one  hundred 
and  ten  pounds  in  gold.  Such  a  premium,  at  least. 
Law  felt  sure  would  be  commanded  by  a  currency 
that  was  convenient,  could  be  cheaply  transported, 
and  was  safe  from  depreciation. ^ 

It  is  easy  to  see  that,  if  this  scheme  had  been 
adopted,  there  would  have  been  an  enormous  inflation 
in  Scotland,  followed  by  a  long  period  of  disastrous 
reaction.  Every  man  who  wanted  to  get  rid  of  his 
land,  or  to  speculate  by  obtaining  a  large  loan  on  it, 
would  have  applied  to  the  commissioners  for  money. 
Enormous  amounts  of  bills  would  have  been  issued ; 
those  who  held  the  paper  would  soon  have  begun  to 
present  it  for  redemption.  The  state  would  have  be- 
come the  owner  of  half  the  land  in  the  kingdom  ;  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  realize  from  innumer- 
able farms  and  lots  thrown  upon  the  market  enough 
to  meet  its  bills.  The  history  of  the  French  assignats 
in  the  Revolution  would  have  been  anticipated  in 
Scotland.  There  was,  however,  little  danger  of  the 
adoption  of  Law's  proposals.  The  Scotch  were  smart- 
ing from  the  disastrous  results  of  the  Darien  Expedi- 
tion, and  they  were  not  inclined  to  any  new  ventures. 

1  These  views  will  be  found  fully  set  out  in  Law's  Proposal 
f&r  Supplying  the  Nation  with  Money. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  435 

Discouraged  by  the  apathy  of  his  countrymen,  Law 
returned  to  his  travels  in  Europe.  He  visited  most 
of  the  principal  cities ;  he  studied  the  finances  of 
various  countries  ;  he  investigated  with  especial  care 
the  banking  systems  in  the  few  places  where  such 
existed.  His  taste  for  ingenious  theories  was  not 
allowed  to  lie  entirely  idle  during  these  years.  Gam- 
bling was  then  deemed  a  pastime  and  not  a  vice. 
There  was  high  play  at  every  court;  a  gentleman's 
face  was  expected  to  be  seen  at  the  card  table  as  much 
as  at  the  king's  levee.  At  a  time  when  opportunities 
for  speculation  could  be  found  with  difficulty,  gam- 
bling at  cards  was  the  only  substitute  which  satisfied 
the  love  of  excitement  and  furnished  the  hope  of 
easy  gain.  It  was  no  discredit  to  a  man  to  earn  his 
livelihood  at  cards.  Law  had  soon  dissipated  his  pat- 
rimony, but  his  skill  as  a  player  furnished  him  the 
means  of  living  in  luxury  and  accumulating  a  consid- 
erable fortune.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  he 
adopted  a  system  for  his  play,  as  he  did  later  for  his 
banks  and  companies  of  commerce.  The  most  of 
those  whom  he  met  played  recklessly,  looking  to  luck 
for  success.  Law  studied  the  chances  of  the  cards, 
the  probabilities  of  their  combinations,  and  on  them 
staked  his  money.  The  result  showed  that  his  policy 
was  the  better  one.  The  science  of  the  chances  rarely 
fails  one  who  knows  enough  to  master  it,  and  has  reso- 
lution enough  to  follow  it.  In  the  great  cities  which 
Law  visited  in  his  rambling  career,  he  soon  became 
known  as  a  bold  and  a  successful  gambler. 

In  1708,  he  went  to  Paris,  in  the  darkest  period  of 
the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  Undismayed  by 
the  disastrous  condition  of  affairs,  he  proposed  to  the 
Comptroller  General  measures  which  would  extricate 


436  FRANCE  UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

the  country  from  its  bankrupt  condition.  His  offers 
seem  to  have  received  some  attention,  but  they  were 
not  adopted.  In  an  age  of  conservatism,  Louis  XIV. 
was  distinguished  by  an  especial  aversion  for  whatever 
was  new.  A  sovereign  who  disliked  to  see  even  new 
faces  about  him  was  not  attracted  by  revolutionary 
schemes  of  any  nature.  Law  realized  that  there  was 
no  likelihood  of  his  projects  finding  favor  with  those 
who  then  governed  France,  but  he  made  friends  who 
might  be  of  use  when  the  present  administration 
should  pass  away.  His  manners  were  engaging,  his 
conversation  agreeable.  Though  he  spoke  French  like 
a  foreigner,  yet  he  could  express  himself  in  that  lan- 
guage with  ease  and  with  correctness.^  He  had  a  natu- 
ral gift  for  lucid  explanation.  Theories  about  credit 
and  currency,  which  are  usually  obscure  and  confus- 
ing, when  explained  by  him  became  so  simple  that  the 
most  ordinary  mind  could  grasp  them.  The  clearness 
of  his  style,  both  as  a  talker  and  a  writer,  enabled  him 
to  glide  unobserved  over  the  fallacies  which  often  lay 
beneath.  He  had  the  faculty  of  convincing  himself 
and  others. 

His  social  qualities  rendered  him  popular,  and  his 
skill  at  the  card  table  made  him  a  welcome  member 
of  a  society  where  all  played  and  played  high.  He 
frequently  acted  as  banker  at  the  faro  tables  at  Du- 
clos's,  a  tragedian  then  in  fashion,  at  whose  house  the 
most  famous  players  were  to  be  found.  He  played 
boldly  and  brilliantly.  It  was  said  that  he  brought 
with  him  for  the  game  two  sacks  full  of  gold,  contain- 
ing 100,000  livres,  and  no  prince  nor  duke  watched  his 

1  "  He  does  not  speak  French  badly,  at  least  he  speaks  it  bet- 
ter than  the  English  usually  do,"  is  the  qualified  praise  of  the 
mother  of  the  regent. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM,  437 

stake  with  more  noble  unconcern.  Though  he  won 
constantly  and  largely,  he  was  never  accused  of  un- 
fair playing.  The  advantages  which  he  possessed 
were  the  legitimate  ones  of  superior  skill  and  judg- 
ment, and  he  was  admired  by  those  whose  money  he 
gained.  A  foreigner  who  becomes  known  as  a  gambler 
with  phenomenal  success  excites,  however,  the  suspi- 
cion of  the  police,  if  not  of  his  associates,  and  Law 
was  presently  notified  by  the  authorities  that  so  skillful 
a  player  could  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in  Paris.  He 
started  again  on  his  journeys,  and  seems  to  have  met 
with  similar  experiences  in  other  cities.  Notwith- 
standing occasional  rebuffs,  he  continued  to  live  on  a 
large  scale,  and  was  popular  with  every  one  except 
the  police. 

Frequent  disappointments  did  not  shake  Law's  be- 
lief that  he  had  discovered  important  financial  secrets, 
nor  did  his  mode  of  life  destroy  his  ambition  to  reno- 
vate the  commerce  and  industry  of  the  world.  In  his 
visits  to  Paris  he  had  acquired  the  friendship  of  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  attracted  alike  by  the  easy 
recklessness  of  Law's  private  life,  and  by  the  novelty 
and  ingenuity  of  his  theories.  Louis  XIV.  died,  and 
Orleans  became  regent  with  an  uncontrolled  authority. 
Law  felt  that  he  would  not  find  another  ruler  from 
whom  he  would  be  so  likely  to  obtain  the  opportunity 
which  he  had  so  long  and  so  vainly  desired.  He  again 
turned  his  steps  towards  Paris.  He  had  accumulated 
a  fortune  of  a  million  and  a  half  livres,  which  was 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  live  with  comfort,  and  even 
with  splendor.  He  was  in  full  vigor  of  mind  and 
body,  and  he  brought  with  him  a  confidence  in  his  the- 
ories that  inspired  confidence  in  others. 

The   finances   of   France   were   in   such   desperate 


438  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

plight  that  the  most  prudent  man  might  feel  inclined 
to  resort  to  new  and  radical  measures  for  their  extri- 
cation. The  condition  of  the  country  at  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV.  was  worse  than  it  had  been  for  over  half 
a  century.  The  indebtedness  was  vastly  larger  in  pro- 
portion to  the  resources  of  the  country  than  the  present 
debt  of  France  ;  it  was  one  which  it  was  impossible  to 
meet.  A  portion  of  it  consisted  in  irredeemable  paper 
of  the  government,  and  this  was  more  harmful  to 
trade  than  the  burden  of  taxation.  France  has  often 
proved  her  recuperative  power  after  disastrous  wars 
and  under  the  weight  of  heavy  indebtedness,  but  at 
this  period  the  prosperity  did  not  exist  which  would, 
after  a  few  years  of  peace,  restore  the  national  credit 
and  adjust  the  financial  burdens.  Every  department 
of  industry  was  stagnant.  Few  ships  carrying  the 
flag  of  France  traversed  any  sea,  little  of  her  product 
was  exported  into  any  land,  manufactures  were  at 
their  lowest  ebb,  agriculture  had  never  been  more  un- 
prosperous.  The  Draconian  remedies,  by  which  the 
indebtedness  of  the  government  was  reduced,  had  not 
restored  prosperity.  The  best  that  the  minister  of 
finance  could  promise  was,  that,  if  the  country  re- 
mained at  peace  and  the  closest  economy  was  prac- 
ticed, in  eleven  years  the  receipts  might  equal  the 
expenses.  Such  a  prospect  did  not  allure  the  regent, 
who  wished  his  administration  to  be  brilliant,  and  did 
not  care  to  have  it  economical. 

In  this  situation  of  affairs.  Law  again  offered  to 
assist  France  in  her  distress  ;  to  render  her  debt  light 
by  making  her  people  rich ;  to  restore  her  commerce, 
build  up  her  industries,  and  make  the  regency  of 
Orleans  memorable  as  the  beginning  of  an  era  of 
larger    enterprise,   increasing  wealth,  and    abundant 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  439 

prosperity.  His  projects  were  submitted  not  only  by 
word  of  mouth,  but  in  a  series  of  memoirs  and  letters. 
They  illustrate  Law's  acuteness,  and  his  apprehension 
of  the  possibilities  of  an  increase  in  trade  and  wealth 
such  as  there  was  no  record  of  in  the  past,  but  the 
future  was  in  reality  to  show.  They  contain  also  the 
fallacies  by  which  he  was  led  astray,  which  involved 
his  projects  in  disaster  and  blasted  his  hopes  and  his 
ambitions.  In  the  views  which  he  now  laid  before 
the  regent  and  the  public,  he  attacked  with  boldness 
and  with  truth  the  beliefs  that  had  long  been  the 
corner-stones  of  the  old  regime  of  economical  specu- 
lation. The  laws  which  changed  the  nominal  value 
of  money  he  declared  to  be  injurious  and  unjust; 
those  which  sought  to  fix  the  value  of  commodities,  to 
prevent  the  export  of  gold  and  establish  the  rate  of 
interest,  to  be  injurious  and  futile.^  His  views  on 
these  questions  have  long  been  adopted,  and  endeavors 
to  lower  the  rate  of  interest  by  legislation  are  the 
only  relics  of  the  errors  which  he  exposed  that  can 
now  be  found  among  civilized  nations.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  these  falla- 
cies were  as  generally  accepted  as  they  now  are  dis- 
carded. Law  demonstrated  with  equal  clearness  the 
injury  which  France  had  suffered  from  erroneous  finan- 
cial theories.  Though  he  bore  little  love  for  England, 
he  recognized  the  fact  that  by  better  laws  and  more 
sagacious  methods  that  country  would  soon  surpass 
France,  notwithstanding  the  superiority  of  the  latter 
in  population  and  natural  advantages.  "  A  nation 
provided  with  firearms  has  not  a  greater  advantage 
over  one  that  has  only  bows  and  arrows,"  he  wrote, 
''  than  the  English  have  over  the  French  in  matters 
1  Mem.  sur  V usage  des  monnaies. 


440  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

of  commerce."  ^  Had  France  been  as  well  governed 
as  England,  lie  justly  said,  her  condition  at  the  end  of 
the  war  of  the  Succession  would  have  been  far  removed 
from  the  misery  in  which  she  was  involved ;  a  mea- 
sure in  violation  of  the  laws  of  finance  had  often  cost 
the  country  more  than  the  loss  of  a  pitched  battle,  and 
the  depreciation  of  the  currency  by  Louis  XIV.  had 
weakened  his  kingdom  more  than  years  of  war.^ 

Having  exposed  many  of  the  fallacies  of  his  prede- 
cessors. Law  proceeded  with  the  explanation  of  his 
own  plan  for  increasing  the  national  wealth.  How- 
ever defective  was  the  machinery  which  he  afterwards 
adopted  to  bring  about  this  result,  he  saw  with  pro- 
phetic eye  what  was  required  for  the  transaction  of 
business  on  the  great  scale  of  modern  times.  "  What 
is  needed,"  he  said,  "  is  credit."  The  French  were  not 
yet  far  removed  from  the  primitive  days  of  barter,  but 
if  a  sound  system  of  credit  could  be  established,  the 
industrial  resources  of  the  country  might  be  enlarged 
tenfold.  The  merchant  with  a  capital  of  100,000 
could  with  safety  transact  business  on  a  scale  that  the:ti 
required  1,000,000.  More  men  could  be  employed, 
more  goods  manufactured,  more  bushels  of  wheat 
harvested,  more  barrels  of  wine  sold.  All  this  was 
entirely  true.  The  wildest  dreams  of  Law  fell  far 
short  of  the  development  of  industry  and  commerce 
which  has  come  in  a  century  and  a  half.  The  differ- 
ence in  wealth  between  France  to-day  and  under  Louis 
XIV.  is  greater  than  between  France  under  Louis 
XIV.  and  under  Hugh  Capet.  More  progress  has 
been  made  in  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  than  was 
made  in  seven  hundred  years.    Many  things  have  con- 

^  Lettres  sur  les  banqiies. 
2  Mem.  sur  les  banqiies. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  441 

tributed  to  such  a  result,  but  among  them  has  been 
the  growth  of  a  system  of  credit  which  Law  justly 
claimed  must  exist  before  a  nation  could  increase 
rapidly  in  wealth. 

The  best  means  for  furnishing  this  requirement  for 
enlarged  trade  he  found  in  his  favorite  scheme  of  a 
bank,  and  he  dwelt  upon  the  advantages  which  such 
institutions  had  rendered  where  they  were  established, 
and  could  render  in  France.  Banks  are  now  in  no 
need  of  treatises  to  show  their  utility.  Every  one 
knows  that  without  their  aid  the  business  of  the 
world  could  not  be  done  at  all;  that  to  close  the 
banks  would  paralyze  business,  and  involve  the  com- 
munity in  greater  confusion  than  if  the  butchers  and 
bakers  should  suddenly  cease  to  vend  their  wares. 
All  this  is  familiar,  but  it  was  far  from  being  ac- 
cepted in  the  era  of  Louis  XIV.  Such  institutions 
were  unknown  in  France,  and  little  known  anywhere. 
The  Bank  of  Amsterdam  was  regarded  as  a  mystery ; 
the  Bank  of  England  had  been  established  but  a  few 
years,  and  its  creation  had  aroused  the  hostility  of  a 
large  portion  of  those  who  were  considered  as  the 
practical,  hard-headed  business  men  of  the  community. 

Not  only  did  Law  insist  on  the  great  utility  of  such 
an  organization,  but  the  plan  which  he  suggested  was 
subject  to  little  criticism.  He  advised  that  the  bills 
of  the  bank  should  be  made  payable  in  coin  of  a  fixed 
weight  and  amount,  in  order  to  relieve  business  from 
the  paralysis  caused  by  the  frequent  depreciations  of 
the  currency  by  the  government.^  He  recognized  the 
necessity  of  measures  by  which  the  bills  could  always 
be  promptly  redeemed  in  coin.     Such  a  currency,  he 

1  This  advantage  is  dwelt  upon  in  Law's  Memoir e  sur  les 
hanqueSf  presented  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 


442  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

thought,  would  be  preferred  to  gold  and  silver,  on  ac- 
count of  its  many  advantages,  but  he  admitted  that  it 
must  be  redeemable  to  give  it  credit. 

Views  like  these  might  entitle  Law  to  rank  as  one  of 
the  fathers  of  modern  commerce.  But  with  them  ap- 
pear the  delusions  by  which  he  was  beset,  and  which 
became  more  pronounced  as  he  advanced  in  his  career. 
He  was  not  content  with  establishing  a  judicious  sys- 
tem of  credit,  with  freeing  industry  from  artificial 
restraints,  and  thus  allowing  it  to  develop  to  the  full- 
est extent.  By  the  very  act  of  issuing  currency,  he 
declared  that  he  could  make  the  country  richer,  that 
plenty  of  banknotes  would  not  only  aid  a  commerce 
that  existed,  but  could  create  one  that  had  no  exist- 
ence ;  that  an  abundant  currency  would  of  itself  bring 
prosperity  to  the  land. 

"  A  state,"  he  wrote,  "  must  have  a  certain  quantity 
of  money  proportioned  to  the  number  of  its  people," 
thus  giving  utterance  to  a  fallacy  that  still  has  many 
believers.^  The  wealth  of  the  Dutch  he  declared  to 
be  based  upon  the  large  amount  of  money  which  they 
had  in  circulation ;  a  country  where  the  currency  was 
five  hundred  millions  would  necessarily  do  more  busi- 
ness and  increase  more  rapidly  in  wealth  than  one 
where  there  was  only  half  that  amount.^  His  own 
career  was  to  furnish  a  lamentable  proof  of  how  false 
is  such  a  belief ;  was  to  show  that  putting  in  circula- 
tion for  each  member  of  the  community  one  thousand 
francs  in  place  of  one  hundred,  instead  of  making 
every  one  rich,  may  result  in  making  every  one  poor. 
These  errors,  however,  were  not  dangerous  so  long  as 
Law  simply  proposed  to  open  a  bank,  of  which  the 
currency  should  be  redeemable  in  coin.  Such  an  in- 
1  Mem.  sur  les  hanques.  ^  lb. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  443 

stitution  could  furnish  business  facilities,  and  it  was 
impossible  that  it  could  keep  outstanding  an  amount 
of  circulation  which  was  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the 
community. 

Law  said  little  about  the  great  trading  companies 
which  he  organized  later,  and  which  formed  so  im- 
portant a  part  of  what  can  properly  be  called  his 
system.  Doubtless  he  contemplated  such  projects,  if 
he  could  succeed  in  establishing  the  bank.  He  hinted 
at  these  schemes  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  regent : 
"My  bank  is  not  the  only  nor  the  greatest  of  my 
ideas.  I  will  produce  something  which  will  surprise 
Europe  by  the  changes  which  it  will  produce  in  favor 
of  France,  —  changes  greater  than  have  resulted  from 
the  discovery  of  the  West  Indies,  or  from  the  intro- 
duction of  credit.  .  .  .  The  regency  of  your  highness, 
well  employed,  will  suffice  to  increase  the  population  to 
thirty  millions,  and  the  king's  revenue  to  three  hun- 
dred millions."  ^ 

The  regent  was  attracted  by  the  projector  and  by 
his  plans,  and  not  all  the  disasters  which  ensued  de- 
stroyed the  friendly  sentiments  with  which  he  always 
regarded  the  Scotch  innovator.  Hardly  a  month  had 
passed  since  Louis  XIV.'s  death  when  Law's  project 
for  a  state  bank  was  laid  before  the  council  of  finance. 
There  it  met  with  an  unfriendly  reception.^ 

To  some,  the  fact  that  it  was  a  novelty  was  enough 
to  condemn  it;  others,  with  better  reason,  declared 
that  a  bank  under  the  control  of  the  government 
might  be  safe  in  a  republic  or  a  limited  monarchy,  but 
it  would  be  sure  to  be  abused  where  the  king  was 
absolute.     An  unfortunate  war,  the  prodigality  of  a 

1  Lettre  I.,  Sur  les  banques. 

2  Deliberations  du  Conseil,  October  24,  1715. 


444         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

sovereign,  the  avidity  of  a  minister,  a  favorite,  or  a 
mistress,  would  exhaust  the  bank  and  ruin  those  who 
held  its  bills.^  Law's  answer  to  such  objections  showed 
the  hopefulness  of  a  projector,  rather  than  the  saga- 
city of  a  man  of  affairs.  A  bank,  he  insisted,  would 
so  increase  the  wealth  of  kingdom,  and  therefore  the 
revenues  of  the  king,  that  it  was  incredible  to  suppose 
that  any  monarch  would  destroy  the  usefulness  of  an 
institution  from  the  existence  of  which  he  would  him- 
self be  the  chief  gainer.^  Notwithstanding  his  argu- 
ments, the  plan  for  a  state  bank  was  rejected. 

The  regent  was  almost  as  eager  as  Law  himself 
to  make  some  such  experiment.  He  used  his  personal 
influence  in  behalf  of  the  scheme,  and  the  form  in 
which  it  was  now  presented  was  free  from  any  reason- 
able objection.  It  was  proposed  to  open  a  private 
bank,  whose  bills  should  be  always  redeemable  in  coin. 
All  that  Law  asked  was,  that  it  should  receive  the 
sanction  of  the  government,  and  that  he  should  be 
allowed  to  act  as  the  manager.  In  May,  1716,  letters 
patent  were  granted  authorizing  the  organization  of  a 
private  bank  with  a  capital  of  six  million  livres.  Its 
functions  were  strictly  and  judiciously  regulated.  Its 
bills  must  be  paid  when  presented  ;  it  was  not  allowed 
to  borrow ;  its  operations  must  be  confined  to  receiving 
money  on  deposit,  and  discounting  commercial  paper. 
In  the  month  following,  the  bank,  which  was  to  become 
so  famous,  modestly  began  its  career  in  the  house  where 
Law  lived.  Place  Louis  le  Grand. 

The  benefits  of  this  institution  were  soon  visible. 

The  merchants,  who  had  looked  upon  it  with  suspicion, 

quickly  availed  themselves  of  the  advantages  which  it 

afforded.     Its  charter  contained  a  provision  requiring 

1  St.  Simon,  xiii.  51.  ^  Mem.  sur  les  banques. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  445 

its  bills  to  be  paid  in  coin  of  a  fixed  weight,  and  this 
alone  gave  a  new  life  to  commerce.  The  nominal  value 
of  gold  and  silver  had  been  subjected  by  the  govern- 
ment to  more  than  twenty  modifications  within  fifteen 
years.  The  specie  value  of  a  louis  or  a  livre  fluctuated  ( 
like  the  price  of  shares  in  the  market.  No  man  could  1 
agree  to  buy  or  sell  for  one  thousand  livres,  and  feel  [ 
any  certainty  as  to  what  the  real  value  of  one  thousand  I 
livres  would  be  when  the  time  for  payment  came.  The 
result  was,  that  men  dared  not  either  buy  or  sell,  and 
commerce  was  paralyzed.  The  bills  of  Law's  bank  now 
furnished  a  currency  safe  and  convenient  in  use,  and 
of  which  the  value  could  not  be  modified  by  any  royal 
edict.  They  were  sought  for  alike  by  citizens  and  by 
foreigners.  If  a  contract  was  made  payable  in  these 
bills,  the  parties  could  calculate  with  certainty  on  the  li- 
ability assumed  and  the  price  to  be  received.  For  two 
years  and  a  half  the  bank  remained  a  private  in- 
stitution, and  during  that  time  it  issued  bills  to  the 
amount  of  fifty-one  million  livres.  They  were  easily 
absorbed  by  the  community.  Whenever  presented  for 
payment,  they  were  promptly  discharged  in  specie. 
The  bank  soon  received  the  accounts  of  those  who  had 
money  to  deposit,  and  the  demands  of  those  who 
wished  to  borrow.  Law's  'management  seems  to  have 
been  judicious  and  conservative.  Commercial  paper 
was  first  discounted  at  six  per  cent. ;  when  money  be- 
came more  plentiful,  the  rate  fell  to  four  per  cent. 
The  improvement  in  the  financial  condition  that  fol- 
lowed the  organization  of  the  bank  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  all.  Merchants  undertook  new  enterprises ; 
manufacturers  increased  their  products  ;  the  market 
for  grain  improved  ;  the  rate  of  interest  fell.^ 
^  Forbonnais,  Mem.  et  cor.  du  Due  de  Noailles, 


446         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

Had  Law  been  content  to  continue  Lis  establish- 
ment on  the  same  basis,  the  Bank  of  France  would 
probably  have  traced  its  origin  to  him,  and  could  have 
claimed  an  antiquity  almost  equaling  that  of  its  Eng- 
lish rival.  Such  a  career  fell  far  short  of  satisfying 
the  ambitious  dreams  of  the  manager.  The  success 
which  he  had  achieved  strengthened  his  confidence  in 
the  correctness  of  his  views.  It  increased  also  his 
favor  with  the  regent  and  his  influence  in  the  commu- 
nity. He  could  appeal  to  the  results  of  the  experiment, 
which  after  much  opposition  he  had  been  allowed  to 
make,  when  he  pictured  the  benefits  that  would  flow 
from  an  application  of  his  ideas  on  a  larger  scale. 

In  December,  1718,  Law's  bank  was  changed  from 
a  private  into  a  state  institution.^  Those  who  had  in- 
vested in  its  stock  were  bought  out,  and  made  a  hand- 
some profit.  While  the  same  management  continued, 
it  was  now  under  the  control  of  the  royal  council.  The 
king  was  liable  for  the  bills  issued,  and  the  amount  of 
them  was  regulated  by  the  government.  In  our  day, 
a  bank  thus  guaranteed  by  the  state  would,  in  some 
countries,  possess  a  credit  exceeding  that  of  any  pri- 
vate establishment.  It  was  far  from  being  so  in  France 
at  this  era.  The  amount  of  the  circulation  could  no 
longer  be  restricted  by  the  action  of  the  business  com- 
munity, as  with  a  private  bank  that  must  meet  its  lia- 
bilities promptly  or  be  forced  into  liquidation.  Bills 
could  be  poured  out  as  required  by  the  necessities  of 
the  state,  by  the  greed  or  the  bad  judgment  of  its 
rulers.  The  promises  of  the  king  to  meet  his  obliga- 
tions had  often  been  dishonored;  there  was  no  cer- 
tainty that  bills  of  his  bank  would  escape  the  fate  of 
other  forms  of  indebtedness.  The  power  of  debasing 
1  Declaration^  December  4,  1718. 


LAW  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  447 

the  currency  had  been  recklessly  exercised,  and  it  was 
sure  to  be  again  resorted  to  when  there  was  need  of 
such  a  measure.  The  organization  of  a  royal  bank 
was,  however,  in  accordance  with  Law's  desires.  His 
belief  was  firm  that  wealth  could  be  more  rapidly  cre- 
ated by  authority  of  the  state  than  by  the  free  action 
of  the  individual.  In  this  tenet,  as  in  many  others,  he 
was  the  precursor  of  those  who  advocate  the  control 
of  business  enterprises  by  the  public.  His  endeavor 
to  make  the  community  rich  and  happy  was  now  to  be 
undertaken  on  a  great  scale. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY. 

1717-1720. 

As  soon  as  the  bank  was  in  successful  operation, 
Law  began  the  development  of  the  other  and  more 
important  projects,  which  he  had  assured  the  regent 
would  increase  the  population  of  France  fifty  per  cent., 
and  its  wealth  in  still  greater  proportion.  Credit  was 
now  reestablished,  and  a  medium  existed  for  furnish- 
ing currency  in  such  amounts  as  might  be  required. 
These  advantages  Law  sought  to  utilize,  and  he  de- 
clared that  he  could  make  France  the  great  commer- 
cial nation  of  the  world.  To  bring  about  such  a  result, 
it  was  necessary  to  reach  foreign  markets,  to  control 
the  intercourse  between  European  civilization  and  the 
Indies  in  the  East  and  America  in  the  West.  Thus 
a  commerce  might  be  created  such  as  mankind  had 
never  seen  ;  the  hidden  treasures  of  the  earth  would 
be  discovered ;  areas  greater  than  France,  that  knew 
not  the  sower  nor  the  reaper,  would  furnish  food  for 
all  who  needed ;  the  development  of  new  lands  would 
create  for  the  countries  of  Europe  a  prosperity  hith- 
erto unknown.  The  dreams  of  Law  have  to  some 
extent  been  realized  by  the  commercial  history  of 
Great  Britain,  and  they  have  produced  wealth  far 
exceeding  the  visions  of  the  wildest  operator  in  the 
Rue  Quincampoix. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  449 

Commercial  companies,  who  should  not  only  gain 
riches  for  themselves,  but  should  extend  the  influence 
of  France  over  regions  more  extensive  than  the  father- 
land, had  been  organized  and  encouraged  by  Richelieu 
and  by  Colbert.  The  efforts  of  these  statesmen  had 
been  unsuccessful.  The  companies,  notwithstanding 
the  privileges  they  had  been  granted  and  the  financial 
aid  which  they  had  received,  were  now  either  extinct 
or  moribund.  More  recently,  the  monopoly  of  trade, 
with  Louisiana  had  been  granted  to  a  wealthy  finan- 
cier named  Crozat,  but  the  enterprise  was  too  great 
for  his  resources,  and  he  had  taken  no  steps  toward 
developing  the  resources  of  that  vast  and  unexplored 
territory.  Law  chose  this  as  the  field  for  his  new 
enterprises.  Crozat  resigned  his  privileges,  and  in 
August,  1717,  the  Company  of  the  West  was  created 
by  royal  letters  patent.  It  soon  came  to  be  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  great  river 
included  within  its  territories.  To  this  company  the 
king  gave  a  monopoly  for  twenty-five  years  of  all  com- 
merce between  France  and  the  province  of  Louisiana. 
The  privilege  was  accompanied  by  a  grant  which  makes 
the  most  extensive  gifts  to  modern  corporations  seem 
•insignificant.  The  company  was  given  the  absolute 
title  to  all  the  territory  included  in  what  was  then 
called  Louisiana.  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  this  extended  for  three  thousand  miles 
northward  to  the  head  of  the  stream ;  it  was  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  Alleghanies,  and  on  the  west  by 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  present  States  of  Lou- 
isiana, Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota  include  only  a  portion  of 
the  territory  of  which  the  sovereignty  was  vested  in 
the  Company  of  the  West.     Over  this  enormous  area 


450  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

it  might  exercise  the  prerogatives  of  a  sovereign ;  it 
could  equip  fleets,  raise  armies,  found  colonies,  admin- 
ister the  laws. 

It  was  indeed  true  that  the  rights  of  the  French 
government  over  the  empire  of  which  it  assumed  to 
dispose  were  but  vague.  They  rested  on  claims  made 
in  behalf  of  the  fleurs  de  lis  by  hardy  adventurers ; 
they  were  evidenced  only  by  a  few  forts  and  settle- 
ments, scattered  over  a  territory  many  times  larger 
than  the  kingdom  of  France.  Marquette  and  La 
Salle  had  visited  the  plains  of  the  West,  they  had 
explored  the  great  river  which  flows  through  them. 
La  Salle  had  taken  possession  of  the  land  in  behalf 
of  Louis  XIV.  of  France.  Louis  had  been  solemnly 
declared  the  monarch  of  wildernesses,  the  extent  of 
which  was  unknown.  The  acquiescence  of  a  few  sav- 
ages was  taken  as  a  recognition  of  this  sovereignty. 
Tribes  bearing  names  unfamiliar  to  Parisian  ears  — 
Illinois,  Arkansas,  and  Missouris  —  were  claimed  to  be 
subjects  of  the  infant  who  now  occupied  the  throne  of 
France.  Vague  as  were  such  pretensions  of  owner- 
ship, they  were  superior  to  those  of  any  other  Euro- 
pean government.  It  was  certain  that  these  fertile 
lands  could  not  forever  remain  under  the  control  of 
roving  bands  of  Indians.  The  French  title  was  suffi- 
cient, if  it  had  been  followed  by  colonization  and  mili- 
tary occupation,  to  have  been  respected  by  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

The  territory  upon  which  the  hopes  of  the  new 
company  were  based  was  uncultivated,  and  to  a  large 
extent  uninhabited.  But  the  fertile  soil,  the  great  for- 
ests, the  mineral  wealth,  only  waited  the  hand  of  civ- 
ilized man  for  their  development.  Within  a  period 
twice  as  long  as  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  they  con- 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  451 

tained  millions  of  inhabitants.  Had  the  wealth  and 
valor  of  France,  during  the  reign  which  was  then  be- 
ginning, been  devoted  to  building  up  an  empire  in  the 
West,  instead  of  to  European  wars,  undertaken  from 
caprice  and  productive  of  ignominy,,  that  period  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  have  rendered  the  territory  of 
Louisiana  the  most  important  possession  of  the  French 
crown,  and  the  Company  of  the  West  might  have  ex- 
ceeded in  power  and  wealth  the  East  India  Company 
of  England. 

Law  was  forced  to  admit  that  the  colonial  com- 
panies which  had  been  heretofore  created  in  France 
had  ended  in  disaster.  The  reason  for  this,  he  said, 
was,  that  they  were  imperfectly  equipped  for  so  great 
undertakings  ;  they  had  not  sufficient  capital ;  remiss- 
ness and  ignorance  had  marked  their  administration. 
Now,  however,  a  corporation  would  attempt  the  task 
of  colonizing  and  developing  the  territories  of  the 
West,  possessing  unlimited  means,  enjoying  the  spe- 
cial favor  of  the  sovereign,  taught  by  the  experience 
of  its  predecessors.  The  coat-of-arms  of  the  new  com- 
pany symbolized  its  future.  The  Mississippi  and  the 
horn  of  plenty  replaced  heraldic  lions  and  unicorns, 
while  Indians  sustained  the  field  of  Jleurs  de  lis. 

To  provide  the  necessary  capital,  shares  were  issued 
of  the  value  of  500  francs  each,  to  the  amount  of 
100,000,000  livres.  For  the  period,  this  was  a  great 
sum  of  money.  Had  it  been  actually  paid  and  used, 
much  could  have  been  done  toward  colonizing  and  de- 
veloping the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Unfortunately, 
while  Law's  purposes  were  often  sagacious,  he  was 
reckless  as  to  the  means.  His  hopes  were  so  buoyant 
that  he  was  confident  of  the  result,  no  matter  on  what 
terms  the  experiment  was  made.      In  his  desire  to 


452  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

obtain  a  concession  from  the  crown  and  to  place  his 
stock,  this  was  made  payable  in  the  notes  of  the  gov- 
ernment which  were  thenr  outstanding.  They  were 
at  a  discount  of  over  sixty  per  cent.,  and  the  capital 
actually  paid  into  the  company  was  only  one  third  of 
its  nominal  amount.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  state 
was  in  no  position  to  redeem  its  notes.  Law  there- 
fore agreed  that  the  100,000,000  which  were  thus 
received  should  be  funded  at  four  per  cent.  The 
capital  of  the  company,  instead  of  being  represented 
by  ships,  stores,  forts,  and  warehouses,  was  invested 
in  the  obligations  of  a  government  whose  credit  was 
exceedingly  poor.  Only  the  interest  on  this  sum 
would  be  available  for  the  actual  work  of  commerce 
and  colonization,  and  this  at  most  was  4,000,000  livres 
a  year.  The  projector  of  the  new  company  probably 
hoped  that,  in  an  era  of  unlimited  paper  currency,  it 
would  be  able  to  do  business  on  credit  alone. 

The  stock  was  slowly  subscribed,  and  for  nearly  two 
years  it  was  quoted  below  par.  Other  means  were 
used  to  excite  popular  confidence,  and  to  build  up  the 
great  enterprises  in  which  Law  wished  to  concentrate 
the  energies  and  the  wealth  of  France.  In  1718,  the 
monopoly  of  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  was  granted 
to  the  company  for  nine  years ;  ^  4,000,000  livres 
annually  were  paid  for  the  privilege,  twice  the  amount 
formerly  received  by  the  government.  The  smallness 
of  the  sum  shows  how  moderate  was  the  consumption 
of  tobacco  at  this  period.  The  demand  steadily  in- 
creased, but  its  use  was  still  vigorously  condemned, 
and  was  not  very  generally  adopted. 

The  purchase  of  the  tobacco  monopoly  was  followed 
by  a  series  of  transactions,  each  of  which  increased 
1  Edict,  September,  1718  ;  Arret,  September  27. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY.  453 

the  excitement  of  the  public,  and  made  every  one  eager 
for  a  share  in- these  gigantic  enterprises,  no  matter 
at  what  price.  The  East  India  Company  of  France, 
often  reduced  to  ruin,  and  as  often  remodeled  and 
resuscitated  by  the  government,  had  continued  a  feeble 
and  sickly  existence.  Its  commercial  privileges,  while 
they  excluded  others  from  competition,  had  been  ex- 
ercised without  advantage  to  itself  or  to  the  country. 
A  small  business  with  India  and  the  East  continued 
to  be  done,  with  results  equally  unsatisfactory  to 
stockholders,  colonists,  and  natives.  The  place  of  this 
decrepit  institution  was  now  taken  by  a  young  and 
vigorous  rival.  A  royal  edict  declared  that  the  Com- 
pany of  the  East  Indies  had  been  provided  with  in- 
sufficient capital,  and  had  suffered  from  unwise  man- 
agement ;  its  debts  were  unpaid,  its  ships  were  rotting, 
and  its  existence  was  unprofitable.  Its  property  and 
commercial  privileges  were  therefore  transferred  to 
the  Mississippi  Company,  upon  the  condition  that  all 
outstanding  indebtedness  should  be  discharged,  and 
the  same  disposition  was  made  of  the  Company  of 
China.i  The  name  of  the  Company  of  the  West  was 
now  changed  to  the  Company  of  the  Indies,  but  it  still 
continued  to  be  called  the  Mississippi  by  contempo- 
raries, and  by  that  name  is  familiar  to  posterity. 

The  consolidation  of  these  great  enterprises  was  in 
accordance  with  Law's  theory  for  the  greatest  devel- 
opment of  national  wealth.  Such  a  company,  he  said, 
would  furnish  an  opportunity  to  put  all  the  money  of 
the  kingdom  to  an  advantageous  use.  The  profits  of 
the  corporation,  distributed  among  innumerable  stock- 
holders, would  make  them  all  rich.  By  the  union  of 
all  into  one  body,  each  member  enjoyed  the  protection 
1  Edicts  of  May  26,  1719. 


454  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  the  others  ;  each  individual  profited  by  that  which 
was  of  general  advantage ;  the  interests  which  were 
discordant  when  divided  would  become  harmonious 
when  united.  All  would  work  for  a  common  end. 
An  enormous  capital  united  in  one  corporation,  con- 
trolling the  markets  of  the  world,  trafficking  in  every 
land,  sailing  its  ships  on  every  sea,  would  produce  re- 
sults which  would  be  proportionate  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  undertaking.  Compared  with  its  profits,  those 
of  the  boasted  East  India  Company  of  Holland  would 
seem  contemptible.^ 

No  business  corporation  in  the  world  had  such  vast 
possibilities  before  it  as  the  new  Company  of  the 
Indies.  In  addition  to  the  empire  which  it  already 
possessed  in  the  West,  it  was  given  a  monopoly  of  the 
commerce  of  France  with  the  East.  To  it  America, 
Asia,  and  Africa  must  pay  tribute.  In  the  oceans 
that  rolled  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  from  the  Antipodes  to  the  Arctic 
Circle,  its  ships  alone  could  carry  the  flag  of  France. 
It  had  the  facilities  and  the  opportunities  for  build- 
ing up  a  great  trade  with  India,  China,  Senegal,  and 
the  islands  of  the  sea  ;  it  could  supply  civilization  with 
everything  that  could  be  desired  for  comfort,  luxury, 
.or  caprice,  from  spices  to  slaves,  from  silks  delicately 
wrought  and  richly  colored  by  ingenious  artisans  of 
Hindustan  to  cloths  woven  out  of  the  bark  of  trees 
by  savages  of  Polynesia. 

Having  thus  secured  the  control  of  the  colonial  sys- 
tem. Law  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  finances  of  the  government.    In  July,  1719, 

1  See  these  arguments  in  a  pamphlet  reproduced  in  Journal  de 
la  RegencCy  MS.  Bib.  Nat.,  a  most  valuable  authority  for  the 
sentiments  as  well  as  the  events  of  this  era. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  455 

the  privilege  of  coinage  was  granted  the  Company  of 
the  Indies  for  nine  years.  On  this  occasion,  as  on 
many  others,  Law  dealt  with  the  state  with  an  inju- 
dicious liberality :  50,000,000  livres  were  to  be  paid 
for  the  privilege,  which  was  an  excessive  price.  It 
was,  however,  a  valuable  franchise,  and  the  public  re- 
garded the  profits  to  be  made  from  it,  and  gave  little 
attention  to  what  it  cost. 

A  measure  of  much  more  importance  soon  followed. 
The  Paris  brothers  were  men  who,  from  a  humble  be- 
ginning, had  become  large  government  contractors. 
Whether  from  jealousy,  or  from  a  well-founded  dis- 
trust of  Law's  measures,  they  were  his  bitter  enemies 
and  persistently  attacked  his  projects.  In  1718,  the 
brothers  had  obtained  for  a  term  of  years  the  contract 
for  the  principal  taxes  farmed  by  the  government, 
for  which  they  agreed  to  pay  48,500,000  livres  an- 
nually. In  imitation  of  the  Company  of  the  West, 
an  association  was  formed  to  which  the  contract  was 
assigned,  and  shares  to  the  amount  of  100,000,000 
were  issued.  Law's  projects  were  already  known  as 
the  System,  and  this  soon  came  to  be  styled  the  Anti- 
system.  The  profits  of  the  farm  of  the  taxes  were 
large,  and  they  were  regarded  as  more  certain  than 
the  products  of  Louisiana  mines  and  sugar  planta- 
tions. The  shares  of  the  Anti-system  commanded 
higher  figures  than  those  of  the  Mississippi,  and  at- 
tracted the  money  of  investors. 

Law  was  now  strong  enough  to  overthrow  his  rivals. 
The  India  Company  offered  to  pay  52,000,000  livres 
for  the  farm  of  the  taxes.  A  gain  of  over  3,000,000 
a  year  the  regent  claimed  was  sufficient  to  justify  him 
in  canceling  the  contract  with  the  Paris  brothers,  and 
on  August  27,  1719,  a   new  one  was  executed  with 


456  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Law's  company.^  The  profits  to  be  derived  from  the 
farm,  even  at  this  increased  figure,  added  to  the  al- 
ready glowing  hopes  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, while  the  business  energies  of  the  state  by  this 
change  were  still  further  concentrated  in  one  enormous 
corporation.  Into  it  would  now  pour  alike  the  moneys 
contributed  by  the  taxpayer  and  the  moneys  paid  for 
foreign  goods  by  the  consumer.  From  it  they  would 
again  be  drawn  to  stimulate  trade,  increase  wealth, 
and  yield  abundant  returns  to  the  investor. 

And  now  Law  proceeded  to  his  last  great  financial 
measure,  which  was  intended  to  bring  into  the  devel- 
opment of  his  system  the  bulk  of  the  capital  of  France 
available  for  investment.  The  amount  of  the  national 
debt  outstanding,  and  represented  by  rentes  and  other 
government  obligations,  was  now  about  1,500,000,000 
livres.  This  sum  the  India  Company  offered  to  ad- 
vance to  the  king  at  three  per  cent.^  Thus  he  would 
have  but  one  creditor,  and  that  the  company  organ- 
ized under  his  protection,  and  representing  the  busi- 
ness industries  of  the  country.  The  interest  on  the 
present  indebtedness  was  on  an  average  four  per 
cent.,  and  there  would  be  a  saving  of  15,000,000  an- 
nually for  the  taxpayers.  The  advantage  of  such  an 
arrangement  for  the  government  was  manifest,  and 
the  offer  was  promptly  accepted.  The  creditors  of 
the  state  were  informed  that  their  indebtedness  would 
be  at  once  discharged.^  Such  an  operation  was  a  gi- 
gantic one  for  that  epoch.  Industrial  enterprises  did 
not  furnish  the  opportunities  for  investment  which  ex- 

1  Arret,  August  27,  1719. 

2  The  sum  offered  was  first  1,200,000,000  livres,  and  that  was 
increased  to  1,500,000,000  in  October. 

8  Arret,  August  31,  1719. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  457 

ist  in  modern  communities,  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
floating  capital  of  the  country  was  put  in  the  securities 
of  the  government.  If  they  were  not  sure  to  be  paid, 
they  were  at  least  safer  than  anything  else.  The 
enormous  sum  placed  in  them  was  now  to  be  repaid, 
and  the  creditors  of  the  state  must  at  once  seek  new 
investments.  It  was,  however,  part  of  the  scheme  that 
an  opening  should  be  furnished  by  which  the  money 
received  from  the  government  could  be  placed  alike 
more  to  the  advantage  of  the  community  and  of  the 
creditor.  "  The  intention  of  the  company,"  wrote 
Law,  "  is  that  the  rentiers  shall  invest  the  money  they 
receive  in  the  shares  which  are  now  offered  to  them 
at  less  than  their  value.  Thus  they  will  be  enriched 
while  the  state  is  relieved.'''  ^  Money  placed  in  the 
rentes,  he  said  again,  was  unproductive  and  dead ; 
the  holders  of  such  securities  had  been  drones  in  the 
community,  but  now  their  capital,  fructifying  in  the 
enterprises  of  industry  and  commerce,  would  increase 
the  national  wealth.  The  talents  which  had  been 
hidden  in  the  earth  would  be  put  to  the  exchangers 
and  gain  other  talents. 

The  payment,  or  rather  the  funding,  of  the  national 
debt,  was  an  operation  which  Law  was  perhaps  forced 
to  undertake,  in  order  to  obtain  the  farm  of  the  taxes. 
But  it  was  in  accordance  with  his  theories,  and  he 
agreed  to  it  willingly.  Its  boldness  attracted  him, 
and  its  necessary  result  was  to  increase  the  specula- 
tion in  the  shares  of  the  Mississippi.  As  to  the  real 
nature  of  the  transaction,  however,  a  juggle  of  words 
deceived  the  public  and  the  man  who  uttered  them. 
The  money  which  had  been  slumbering  unprofitably 
in  the  obligations  of  the  state  was  invested  in  the  stock 
1  Lettres  sur  le  nouveau  systeme  des  finances. 


458    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

of  the  company,  only  to  be  put  again  to  the  same  use. 
New  actions  were  issued,  and  the  money  received  from 
them,  to  the  amount  of  1,500,000,000  livres,  was  lent  to 
a  government  which  often  repudiated  its  debts,  at  a 
lower  rate  of  interest  than  could  usually  be  obtained 
by  governments  which  always  paid  their  debts.  The 
capital  of  the  company,  on  which  dividends  had  to  be 
earned,  was  enormously  increased  in  order  to  make  a 
loan  at  three  per  cent.  This  measure  had  much  to  do 
in  bringing  to  an  untimely  end  establishments  which 
might  have  long  continued  useful  to  France. 

To  float  such  enterprises  a  large  amount  of  money 
was  required.  The  means  of  furnishing  it  was  at 
hand.  No  one  in  France  had  occasion  to  complain 
that  the  volume  of  currency  was  not  sufficient  for  the 
requirements  of  business.  The  government  held  the 
source  of  supply,  and  it  was  turned  on  in  a  steadily 
increasing  stream.  The  establishment  of  the  royal 
bank  was  followed  by  a  liberal  issue  of  paper  money. 
In  the  spring  of  1719,  the  amount  outstanding  was 
over  100,000,000  livres.  In  June  and  July,  nearly 
300,000,000  more  of  bills  were  issued.  Those  who  ad- 
vocated the  regulation  of  the  amount  of  currency  by 
the  state  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  their  system  in 
full  operation.  Enormous  as  were  these  issues,  they 
seem  modest  in  comparison  with  those  required  as  the 
development  of  the  system  progressed. 

Something  more  than  a  government  printing-press 
was  needed  to  fan  the  flames  of  speculation.  Law 
proceeded  with  increased  vigor  to  put  in  operation  his 
schemes  for  colonization  and  for  foreign  commerce. 
In  May,  1719,  the  Company  of  the  West  had  twenty- 
one  ships  carrying  its  flag ;  colonists  in  considerable 
numbers  were   sent   to  Louisiana;   twenty  thousand 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  459 

skins  of  the  buffalo  and  the  beaver  had  been  col- 
lected ;  the  tobacco  crop  was  promising,  the  prospects 
for  a  steady  development  of  the  resources  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley  seemed  flattering.  Had  not  a  wild 
speculation  suddenly  invested  the  company  in  a  blaze 
of  glory,  to  be  followed  by  an  era  of  ruin,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  efforts  of  Law  might  have  mate- 
rially modified  the  future  of  the  Southern  and  even  of 
the  Western  States  of  America.  On  the  Mississippi, 
as  in  India,  it  was  the  fortune  of  France  to  be  early 
in  the  field,  to  have  the  control  of  those  great  terri- 
tories almost  within  her  grasp,  and  to  surrender  them 
to  a  more  active  and  sagacious  rival. 

As  the  speculation  in  the  shares  of  the  Mississippi 
Company  became  active,  the  reports  from  Louisiana 
grew  every  day  more  golden.  The  attempts  at  coloni- 
zation of  the  new  territory  were  made  in  a  manner  to 
attract  and  to  delight  the  public.  Some  serious  en- 
deavors at  developing  the  resources  of  the  colony  had 
been  undertaken.  Large  tracts  of  land  were  taken 
by  prominent  persons,  and  they  sent  out  bodies  of 
settlers  to  occupy  their  possessions.  Settlements  were 
started  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Law  himself 
took  a  reservation  in  Arkansas,  and  sent  there  a  colony 
of  Germans.  They  settled  near  the  Arkansas  River, 
on  a  plain  surrounded  by  great  forests.  They  were 
thrifty  men,  the  most  of  them  had  taken  their  wives 
with  them  ;  and  their  efforts  bade  fair  to  be  attended 
by  permanent  results.  The  subsequent  overthrow  of 
Law's  fortunes  discouraged  the  colony,  and  it  was 
abandoned.  The  Germans  established  themselves  near 
New  Orleans,  and  the  most  of  them  found  a  pros- 
perous career  as  market  gardeners.^ 

1  Accounts  of  the  settlements  and  their  fate  are  found  in  a 


460  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

In  1717,  the  foundations  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
named  in  honor  of  the  regent,  were  laid  by  the  com- 
mander of  the  province.  It  soon  became  a  town  of 
some  size.  Many  of  the  huts  and  wooden  houses  which 
were  first  erected  were  replaced  by  brick,  and  had  it 
not  been  for  the  disastrous  fortunes  of  the  Mississippi 
Company,  New  Orleans  would  doubtless  at  an  early 
day  have  become  a  place  of  importance.^ 

It  was  difficult  to  find  settlers  in  sufficient  numbers, 
and  Law  resorted  to  the  aid  of  the  government.  An 
edict  allowed  vagabonds,  tramps,  and  domestics  out  of 
employment  for  four  days,  to  be  sent  as  colonists  to 
Mississippi.^  As  women  were  greatly  needed,  the 
hospitals  and  prisons  for  those  of  disorderly  life  were 
ransacked  in  order  to  furnish  the  mothers  of  a  new 
race.  The  arrival  of  the  first  boat-load  of  girls  was 
an  event  long  remembered  in  the  colony.  They  were 
kept  together  under  strict  guard,  but  the  men  were 
allowed  to  inspect  them  and  select  wives  to  their 
taste.  The  colonists  were  easily  pleased,  and  the  whole 
cargo  was  immediately  demanded  in  matrimony.  Two 
men  claimed  the  last  woman  left,  and  desired  to  settle 
their  pretensions  by  a  hand-to-hand  encounter,  upon 
the  understanding  that  the  bride  should  belong  to  the 
conqueror.  Such  heroic  methods  were  forbidden,  and 
the  matter  was  decided  by  lot.^  The  wives  who  had 
been  so  eagerly  sought  for  did  not  always  prove  as 
satisfactory  as  had  been  hoped.  The  lives  which  many 
of  them  had  led  at  home  had  not  fitted  them  to  be 

Memoire  sur  la  Louisiane,  written  by  a  French  officer  who  for 
many  years  resided  in  the  province. 

1  Mem.  sur  la  Louisiane,  46  et  pas. 

2  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  812  ;  Declr.,  June  8,  1719. 
8  Mem,  sur  la  Louisiane, 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  461 

useful  members  of  the  community  in  any  land.  A 
second  ship-load  was  disposed  of  with  much  less  rapid- 
ity ;  still  the  most  of  them  at  last  found  homes. ^ 

It  was  then  decided  to  send  out  married  colonists, 
but  in  its  haste  the  company  contented  itself  with 
many  of  questionable  character.  On  September  18, 
1719,  one  hundred  and  eighty  girls  were  married  at 
St.  Martin  des  Champs  to  as  many  lads  released  from 
prison.  The  ringing  of  the  bells  in  the  section  at- 
tracted great  crowds  to  see  so  novel  a  ceremony.  The 
girls  were  allowed  to  choose  their  husbands  from  those 
presented,  and  the  priests  then  proceeded  to  unite  the 
throng  before  them  and  pronounce  the  benediction 
of  the  church.  Matrimony  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Mississippi  Company  was  on  a  large  scale.  The  one 
hundred  and  eighty  new  couples  paraded  through  the 
streets  of  Paris,  but  whether  to  symbolize  their  rela- 
tion, or  from  fear  of  some  attempt  at  escape,  a  small 
chain  bound  together  each  husband  and  wife.  Another 
party  of  newly  married  couples,  with  better  taste,  were 
allowed  to  parade  themselves  adorned  with  chains 
of  flowers  instead  of  iron.  They  were  taken  to  La 
Rochelle,  and  from  there  sent  to  begin  a  new  life  in 
Louisiana.^  A  few  days  later  thirty  carts,  "  filled 
with  girls  of  moderate  virtue,"  says  the  chronicler,  all 
decked  with  ribbons  and  cockades,  were  driven  through 
the  city,  preparatory  to  their  departure.^  Complaints 
came  back  of  the  conduct  of  some  of  these  recruits, 

1  Mem.  sur  la  Loumane. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  1068,  MS.  Bib.  Nat.  This  contem- 
porary journal  has  recently  been  published,  but  with  so  many 
and  so  injudicious  omissions  that  any  student  of  the  time  had 
best  consult  the  MS. 

8  Ih.  1068. 


462  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

and  Law  himself  visited  the  hospital  of  the  Salpetriere, 
selected  a  number  of  boys  and  girls  of  good  character, 
and  promised  a  dowry  to  each  couple  who  would  marry 
and  make  Louisiana  their  home. 

Another  marriage  attracted  still  more  attention 
among  a  people  fond  of  novelties.  A  party  of  Indians 
from  Missouri,  together  with  the  daughter  of  the  chief 
of  the  tribe,  were  induced  by  a  French  officer  to  ac- 
company him  to  Paris.  They  were  objects  of  the 
greatest  interest  both  to  the  court  and  to  the  city. 
The  men  hunted  a  stag  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and 
performed  Indian  dances  at  the  Italian  theatre.  The 
girl  was  baptized  at  Notre  Dame.  Her  conversion 
was  soon  followed  by  her  marriage.  A  sergeant  named 
Dubois  aspired  to  the  hand  of  the  Indian  princess, 
and  obtained  it.  They  were  married  at  Notre  Dame 
with  great  pomp,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  enormous 
multitude.  The  king  sent  gifts  to  the  bride,  the  cour- 
tiers followed  his  example.  The  Indian  warriors  were 
made  happy  with  blue  coats  adorned  with  gold  lace, 
and  with  embroidered  hats.  The  adventurous  ser- 
geant was  made  commander  of  Missouri,  and  set  sail 
with  his  new  compatriots.  The  conversion  and  civ- 
ilization of  the  chief  and  the  tribe  were  confidently 
anticipated  from  this  auspicious  alliance.  Such  hopes 
were  doomed  to  be  disappointed.  The  Indian  princess 
wearied  of  the  sergeant.  No  sooner  had  Mme.  Dubois, 
as  she  was  called  at  Paris,  reached  her  home,  than  at 
her  instigation  both  the  sergeant  and  all  of  the  gar- 
rison were  murdered  by  the  savages.  The  princess 
renounced  alike  a  Christian  husband  and  Christianity, 
and  became  again  a  squaw.  The  French  settlement 
came  to  an  end.^ 

1  Mem.  sur  la  Louisiane,  76-81. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY.  463 

The  reports  of  the  fabulous  wealth  which  existed 
in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  attracted  investors,  if 
they  did  not  always  secure  colonists.  There  could  be 
found,  it  was  said,  mines  of  every  sort.  Mountains 
were  filled  with  gold  and  silver;  as  these  metals 
were  common,  and  the  savages  did  not  know  their 
value,  they  could  be  obtained  at  absurdly  low  prices. 
An  old  map  of  the  territory  of  Louisiana  shows  nu- 
merous mines,  which  have  not  yet  been  discovered, 
almost  two  centuries  later.  On  the  map  also  appears, 
in  small  letters,  a  remote  and  obscure  post,  called 
Chicagou,  where  now  is  the  second  city  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union. 

There  was  no  limit  to  the  credulity  of  those  who 
were  eager  for  hidden  treasures.  It  was  reported 
that  far  up  the  Arkansas  River  was  an  enormous  rock 
of  emerald,  of  fabulous  value.  An  expedition  was 
fitted  out  to  discover  it  and  bring  it  away.  Under 
the  command  of  an  officer,  some  twenty  men  went 
up  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Arkansas,  and  then 
followed  the  course  of  that  stream,  journeying  in  all 
over  seven  hundred  miles.  They  traversed  rivers  and 
forests  which  no  white  man  had  ever  seen,  but  they 
found  no  emerald  rock.  At  last  the  soldiers  mu- 
tinied, and  the  commander  was  compelled  to  turn 
back.  "  If  we  had  not  the  satisfaction  of  finding  the 
rock,"  writes  a  member  of  the  expedition,  "  we  trav- 
ersed a  beautiful  country,  with  a  fertile  soil,  and  saw 
vast  prairies  covered  with  deer  and  buffalo."  ^ 

Prints  showed  still  more  graphically  the  condition 
of  the  country.  In  one,  troops  of  savages  were  seen 
reverently  bowing  before  a  party  of  Frenchmen  land- 
ing from  their  ships.  In  another,  the  Indians  were 
1  Memoir  wrifcten  by  one  of  the  explorers,  69  et  seq. 


464  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

kneeling  before  a  Jesuit  priest  and  crying  for  baptism.^ 
A  Jesuit,  who  had  himself  been  a  missionary  in  the 
West,  wrote  with  less  enthusiasm.  "  Any  of  these 
savages,"  he  said,  "  would  be  baptized  ten  times  a  day 
for  a  glass  of  brandy."  ^  Other  observers  discovered 
little  that  resembled  Christianity  among  the  Indians, 
but  it  was  remarked,  as  an  encouraging  sign,  that  one 
trace  of  true  religious  belief  was  found  among  them, 
for  they  had  some  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the 
Devil.3 

While  multitudes  were  risking  their  fortunes  in  the 
stock  of  the  Company  of  the  West,  few  of  them  had 
the  least  knowledge  of  the  resources,  or  even  the  sit- 
uation, of  the  country  which  was  to  make  them  rich. 
A  contemporary  writer,  when  the  shares  were  selling 
at  2,000  per  cent.,  declared  Louisiana  to  be  a  newly 
discovered  island,  which  was  ordinarily  called  Missis- 
sippi.* A  pamphleteer  described  the  territory  for  the 
benefit  of  the  ladies  of  the  court,  and  said  that  few 
of  them  probably  knew  whether  the  Mississippi  was  a 
continent,  an  island,  or  a  river.^ 

It  is  now  time  to  examine  the  extraordinary  specula- 
tion which  was  excited  by  the  new  and  gigantic  enter- 
prises in  which  the  community  was  asked  to  invest  its 
money.  The  responsibility  for  the  follies  of  the  Rue 
Quincampoix  must  rest  to  a  large  extent  on  Law  him- 
self, though  the  enormous  rise  in  the  price  of  shares 
doubtless  exceeded   his  expectations  and  his  desires. 

1  Many  of  these  old  prints  can  be  found  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale. 

2  Voyage  de  Hennequin,  278. 

5  Description  du  Mississippi)  p.  29. 
^  Journal  de  la  Regence,  iii.  1148. 
^  Description  du  Mississippi,  published  in  1720. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  465 

His  enterprises  were  crushed  under  the  weight  of  the 
fantastic  value  which  the  public  attributed  to  them. 
In  the  endeavor  to  sustain  prices  which  anticipated 
fifty  years  of  prosperous  commerce,  his  great  schemes 
were  brought  to  speedy  ruin.  Law  unloosed  the  ge- 
nius of  speculation,  and  it  at  once  assumed  a  form  so 
monstrous  as  to  terrify  its  master  and  the  world. 

The  shares  of  the  Mississippi  were  for  some  time 
viewed  ^ith  distrust  by  a  community  that  had  little 
taste  for  foreign  ventures.  In  the  spring  of  1719, 
almost  two  years  after  the  organization  of  the  com- 
pany, they  were  quoted  at  about  300  livres,  the  par 
value  being  500.  In  order  to  prove  his  own  faith  and 
excite  public  confidence,  Law  made  a  contract  to  take 
200  shares  at  par  in  six  months  from  date,  and  depos- 
ited 40,000  livres  to  secure  his  engagement.  Dealings 
in  futures  were  then  almost  unknown,  and  such  a 
venture  filled  the  public  with  amazement.  In  one 
respect  Law's  bargain  was  far  from  being  sagacious ; 
for  if  the  shares  were  to  possess  such  a  value  in  the 
near  future,  it  would  have  been  much  more  profitable 
to  buy  them  outright  at  the  low  price  at  which  they 
were  offered.  But  as  a  stock-jobbing  operation  it  has 
had  few  parallels  in  the  history  of  speculation.  It  was 
at  once  known  that  the  manager  of  the  Company  of 
the  West  was  willing  to  take  its  stock  six  months  in 
the  future,  at  a  price  almost  double  that  which  it  then 
commanded.  If  he  made  such  a  purchase,  it  must  be 
because  he  knew  of  the  gains  that  it  was  sure  to  real- 
ize, and  of  the  further  privileges  with  which  the  king 
purposed  to  endow  it.  The  price  of  shares  at  once  ad- 
vanced, and  the  public  began  to  seek  for  an  investment 
that  seemed  destined  to  increase  rapidly  in  value.  The 
volume  of  currency  had  been  so  augmented  that  money 


466  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

was  plenty,  tbe  rate  of  interest  had  become  almost  nom- 
inal, and  the  conditions  existed  for  an  active  demand 
for  any  security  which  promised  a  liberal  dividend. 

The  social  and  economical  conditions  of  society  ex- 
plain also,  to  some  extent,  the  speculation  which  raged 
for  almost  a  year,  and  which  now  seems  like  a  tempo- 
rary insanity.  Anything  corresponding  to  a  modern 
stock  exchange  was  unknown  in  France.  Business 
was  not  sufficiently  developed,  nor  was  ther6  enough 
of  accumulated  wealth,  to  require  any  institution  for 
the  rapid  transfer  of  values.  Laws  and  social  tradi- 
tions rendered  any  change  in  a  man's  place  in  the 
community  far  more  difficult  than  now,  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  large  wealth  seemed  as  unlikely  to  those  of 
small  means  as  that  a  miracle  should  be  wrought  in 
their  behalf.  The  eagerness  for  wealth  was  as  strong 
then  as  now,  —  as  strong  as  it  is  in  all  countries  where 
civilization  is  sufficiently  developed  to  furnish  com- 
forts and  luxuries  to  those  who  can  buy  them.  The 
greed  for  money  in  all  classes  of  society,  from  dukes 
to  day-laborers,  was  quite  as  intense  as  it  is  in  any 
modern  republic  which  is  supposed  to  be  wholly  ab- 
sorbed in  the  love  of  dollars.  The  prospect  of  any 
improvement  in  their  fortunes  seemed  so  remote  to 
most  of  the  community  that  they  appeared  resigned 
to  their  fate  ;  but  it  was  not  because  they  had  less 
desire  for  money  than  their  descendants,  but  because 
they  had  less  hope  of  obtaining  it.  Those  to  whom 
its  acquisition  was  possible  pursued  wealth  quite  as 
eagerly  as  is  done  at  present,  and  were  less  scrupulous 
as  to  the  means. 

The  new  enterprises  of  Law,  and  the  profits  made 
by  those  who  began  to  deal  in  the  shares  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Company,  came  as  a  revelation   to  the  com- 


THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY,  467 

munity.  We  are  familiar  with  men  who  have  made 
rapid  fortunes  in  speculation.  Then  they  seemed  rare 
and  curious  phenomena.  Eras  of  panic  and  revulsion 
have  taught  modern  operators  some  degree  of  modera- 
tion, even  in  the  season  of  most  buoyant  speculation. 
Those  who  rushed  to  gamble  in  the  Kue  Quincampoix 
had  had  no  such  experience.  They  were  ignorant  of 
the  devices  of  the  bulls  of  the  exchange,  and  had  no 
fear  of  the  bears.  For  a  while,  whoever  bought  shares 
made  a  profit.  Reports  of  fortunes  gained,  not  only 
by  bankers  and  princes,  but  by  valets  and  errand  boys, 
excited  the  community.  It  seemed  as  if  a  river  of 
gold  had  begun  to  flow,  and  one  needed  only  to  help 
himself.  Law  claimed  that  new  sources  of  wealth  had 
been  discovered  ;  it  might  well  be,  therefore,  that  the 
past  could  furnish  no  precedent  for  an  unknown  fu- 
ture. "  The  gates  of  wealth,"  he  wrote  to  those  who 
complained  that  vulgar  adventurers  had  become  sud- 
denly wealthy,  "  are  now  open  to  all  the  world.  It  is 
that  which  distinguishes  the  fortunes  of  the  old  admin- 
istration from  those  of  the  present."  ^  It  is  not  strange 
that,  under  these  circumstances,  a  speculation  should 
have  raged  such  as  history  seldom  has  to  record. 

The  various  operations  which  were  undertaken  by 
the  Mississippi  Company  were  accompanied  by  large 
issues  of  stock,  and  resulted  in  an  unparalleled  specu- 
lation in  its  shares.  As  has  been  said,  these  were 
still  below  par  in  the  spring  of  1719.  Owing  to  the 
increase  in  the  circulation,  favorable  reports  from 
Louisiana,  and  the  confidence  which  was  inspired  by 
Law's  operations,  in  May  the  price  reached  par,  or 
500  livres  per  share.  In  that  month  the  rights  and 
property  of  the  companies  of  the  East  Indies  and  of 
^  Letter  in  Mercure  de  France  for  May,  1720. 


468  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

China  were  transferred  to  the  Mississippi.  In  order 
to  provide  capital  for  these  new  enterprises,  it  was 
authorized  to  issue  additional  stock  to  the  amount  of 
25,000,000  livres,  in  shares  of  which  the  par  value 
should  be  500.  These  new  shares  would  necessarily 
be  on  an  equality  with  those  already  outstanding,  and 
the  prospects  of  the  company  were  so  flattering  that 
the  former  were  now  quoted  above  par.  It  was  just 
that  new  subscribers  should  pay  a  premium  for  the 
stock  to  be  issued,  which  should  represent  the  differ- 
ence between  its  nominal  and  its  real  value.  It  was 
therefore  announced  that  for  the  new  shares  of  500 
livres  550  livres  must  be  paid,  a  premium  of  ten  per 
cent.^ 

In  the  other  steps  which  he  took  in  reference  to 
these  new  issues.  Law  probably  intended  only  to  se- 
cure their  popularity  and  a  prompt  subscription.  They 
had,  however,  a  great  effect  in  stimulating  speculation. 
Buying  on  margins,  which  is  now  a  common  procedure 
in  every  exchange,  furnishes  a  method  by  which  small 
operators  can  hope  for  a  considerable  gain.  The  mar- 
ket is  thus  broadened  to  a  great  extent,  and  some  such 
system  seems  necessary  for  active  speculation.  These 
devices  were  unknown  to  the  merchants  and  bankers 
who  did  business  in  the  days  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  an 
opportunity  for  large  profits  on  small  investments  was 
now  furnished  through  the  subscriptions  to  the  Com- 
pany of  the  Indies.  The  shares  were  made  payable 
in  twenty  monthly  installments  of  five  per  cent.  each. 
On  depositing  the  premium  and  one  payment  of  five 
per  cent.,  any  one  could  subscribe.  The  chance  of  a 
large  profit  at  small  risk  attracted  a  multitude  of  spec- 
ulators. The  shares  began  to  rise  with  phenomenal  ra- 
1  Edict,  May,  1719. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY,  469 

pidity.  Before  the  second  payment  was  due,  they  were 
quoted  at  1,000.  On  an  investment  of  75  livres,  there 
was  a  net  profit  of  450,  or  600  per  cent.,  in  less  than 
two  months.^  When  the  public  was  already  excited 
by  such  fluctuations,  another  regulation  increased  many 
fold  the  volume  of  speculation.  On  the  plausible 
ground  that  the  benefit  of  these  ^golden  opportunities 
should  be  reserved  for  those  who  were  already  share- 
holders, it  was  provided  that  those  only  could  sub- 
scribe for  a  share  of  the  additional  stock  who  held  four 
shares  of  that  which  had  been  issued.  New  enter- 
prises were  announced  almost  monthly,  it  was  evident 
that  the  capital  must  be  still  further  increased,  and 
the  whole  community  was  eager  to  participate.  The 
original  shares  were  sought  after,  that  the  holder  might 
be  in  position  to  subscribe  for  further  extensions.  The 
first  shares  were  called  the  mothers,  while  those  of  the 
second  issue  were  styled  the  daughters.  The  family 
increased  rapidly  in  numbers.  In  July,  the  right  of 
coinage  was  obtained.  To  furnish  the  50,000,000 
livres  to  be  paid  the  king  for  this  privilege,  50,000 
new  shares  were  issued.  The  par  value  was  500 
livres,  but  the  market  price  was  now  1,000.  These 
were  therefore  issued  at  1,000,  and  at  this  figure 
they  yielded  the  required  50,000,000.  Subscriptions 
were  made  payable  in  installments ;  but  in  order  to 
participate,  one  must  be  the  possessor  of  four  mothers 
and  one  daughter  for  each  share  of  increased  stock.^ 
Shares  of  this  issue  were  called  the  grand-daughters, 
and  they  were  sought  after  more  eagerly  than  their 

1  A  payment  of  75  livres  secured  a  share  of  400  issued  at  550. 
This  was  soon  quoted  at  1,000.  Deducting  the  475  unpaid,  the 
speculator  received  525  for  his  share,  or  450  livres  profit. 

2  Arret,  June  30  and  July  27,  1719. 


470  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

parents  had  been.  Twenty  days  were  allowed  for  the 
subscription,  and  it  was  more  than  enough. 

The  speculation  which  had  raged  all  the  summer 
received  its  final  impetus  from  the  purchase  of  the 
farm  of  taxes  by  the  company,  and  the  preparations 
for  the  payment  of  the  government  debt.  The  shares 
were  quoted  above  1,000  livres  in  July,  but  on  the  an- 
nouncement of  these  measures  they  rose  with  bewilder- 
ing rapidity.  In  September,  they  sold  at  5,000.  On 
the  13th  of  that  month  the  company  announced  the 
issue  of  100,000  new  shares.  They  were  still  of  the 
nominal  value  of  500  francs,  but,  to  correspond  with 
the  market  price  which  had  been  attained,  subscribers 
w^ere  required  to  pay  5,000  francs,  or  1,000  per  cent. 
At  this  price  enough  would  be  realized  to  pay  one 
third  of  the  sum  to  be  furnished  the  king.  On  the 
28th,  100,000  shares  were  issued  at  the  same  price, 
and  on  October  2,  100,000  more.  Thus  the  amount 
required  for  the  use  of  the  king  would  be  supplied. 
Lest  the  eagerness  of  the  public  might  be  affected  by 
the  magnitude  of  these  subscriptions,  it  was  announced 
that  the  capital  of  the  company  was  now  completed, 
and  no  further  issues  would  be  allowed.^ 

A  great  sum  of  money  was  required  for  the  dis- 
charge of  its  debts  by  the  government,  even  though 
this  should  ultimately  find  its  way  into  the  coffers  of 
the  company  in  payment  of  subscriptions  of  stock. 
In  the  last  six  months  of  1719,  bills  were  issued  by 
the  royal  bank  to  the  amount  of  over  800,000,000 
livres.  Such  an  inflation  of  the  currency  counter- 
acted any  effect  that  might  have  been  produced  by  the 
enormous  increase  of  the  stock  of  the  company.    The 

^  Twenty-four  thousand  actions  were  issued  on  October  4,  ap- 
parently without  authority  of  the  royal  council. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY.  471 

demand  for  shares  exceeded  anything  that  had  yet 
been  seen,  and  the  closing  months  of  the  year  1719 
witnessed  the  culmination  of  the  great  Mississippi 
Bubble.  The  new  issues  were  payable  in  ten  monthly 
installments.  Five  hundred  livres  secured  the  chance 
of  profiting  on  the  rise  of  a  stock  which  had  advanced 
from  1,000  to  5,000  livres  in  two  months. 

The  magnificent  buildings  occupied  by  the  bank 
and  the  India  Company  filled  the  great  square  which 
is  at  present  used  for  the  National  Library.  Tranquil 
and  usually  impecunious  scholars  are  now  found  where, 
in  the  time  of  Law,  speculators  counted  their  millions, 
dukes  and  princes  crowded  to  ask  for  shares,  and  great 
multitudes  surged  in  the  courts,  eager  to  become  rich 
in  a  day. 

There  the  bureaus  for  subscription  were  opened. 
The  rows  of  would-be  subscribers  reached  far  into  the 
adjoining  streets,  and  during  long  hours  the  phalanx 
slowly  advanced.  When  a  stentorian  voice  announced 
that  the  bureau  was  closed  for  the  day,  or,  what  was 
far  worse,  that  the  subscription  list  was  filled,  those 
who  had  not  yet  reached  the  wicket  went  sorrowfully 
away. 

Persons  of  more  importance  sought  to  obtain  the 
opportunity  for  gain  through  influence  and  solicita- 
tion. The  financial  revolution  of  Law,  like  the  po- 
litical revolution  of  1789,  leveled  all  distinctions  of 
rank.  The  greatest  nobles  showed  an  avidity  for  gain 
which  was  not  surpassed  by  any  lackey  or  coachman 
who  became  rich  on  the  Rue  Quincampoix.  The  only 
difference  was,  that  operators  of  rank  insisted  they 
should  suffer  no  loss,  and  the  company  later  in  its 
career  was  compelled  to  spend  enormous  amounts 
in  taking  stock  at  the  highest  figures  from  those  who 


472         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

had  held  it  too  long.^  Law  was  a  new  man,  and  he 
felt  that  he  must  have  the  support  of  the  aristocracy 
to  maintain  his  position.  Few  asked  for  favors  who 
did  not  receive  them.  The  Duke  of  Bourbon,  the 
head  of  the  Conde  family,  was  one  of  the  most  eager 
in  the  pursuit  of  gain,  and  Law  used  his  power  to 
enable  the  duke  to  make  millions.  The  palace  of 
Chantilly  was  improved  and  decorated  with  money 
made  from  the  Mississippi. 

The  bureau  of  the  director  of  the  company  rivaled 
the  levee  of  a  monarch  in  the  distinction  and  in  the 
number  of  those  who  frequented  it.  Women  as  well 
as  men  paid  court  to  one  who  seemed  to  have  the 
power  to  make  rich  whomever  he  pleased.  It  was 
said  that  a  duchess  kissed  his  hand  in  public,  and  at 
that  time  duchesses  were  further  removed  froai  the 
rest  of  the  world  than  they  are  now.^ 

The  rapid  increase  in  apparent  wealth  furnished  an 
excuse  for  the  prodigality  to  which  the  regent  was  by 
nature  inclined.  The  pension  list  was  greatly  enlarged. 
The  Duke  of  St.  Simon  tells  of  pensions  amounting 
to  over  half  a  million  livres  created  in  one  year,  in  ad- 
dition to  six  millions  given  in  round  sums ;  "  besides," 
he  adds,  "  money  given  to  so  many  others  that  I  don't 
know  if  they  could  be  numbered."  "Seeing  such 
depredation,"  continues  the  duke,  "  1  asked  for  an  in- 
crease of  12,000  livres  a  year  in  my  own  allowance, 
and  obtained  it  at  once."  ^ 

It  was  at  the  Rue  Vivienne  that  subscriptions  were 
struggled  for  and  shares  given  away.  The  specula- 
tion found  its  headquarters  in  another  section.     The 

1  Mem.  JustificatifSf  645. 

2  Mem.  de  la  duchesse  d*  Orleans,  i.  140. 
8  Mem.,  xvi.  439. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI   COMPANY.  473 

famous  Rue  Quincampoix,  beyond  the  new  Boulevard 
de  Sebastopol,  has  been  less  affected  by  change  than 
most  of  the  streets  of  Paris.  It  still  follows  a  mean- 
dering course  between  high,  irregular,  and  melancholy 
buildings,  and  in  some  parts  is  not  over  twelve  feet 
broad.  It  is  occupied  by  shops  where  nothing  seems 
to  be  sold,  and  by  residents  who  appear  to  have  no 
money  with  whi(ih  to  buy.  At  one  end  is  the  Rue  des 
Ours,  whose  name  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of  Rue  des 
Oies,  or  Goose  Street,  because  here,  when  this  part  of 
the  city  was  the  centre  of  business,  geese  were  cooked 
for  the  merchants  and  financiers.  Off  from  the  Rue 
Quincampoix  runs  the  still  narrower  Rue  de  Venise, 
with  lofty  houses  on  either  side.  In  them  bankers 
and  men  of  wealth  lived  in  the  days  when  air  and 
light  were  regarded  as  superfluities,  and  odors  were 
not  thought  to  be  objectionable.  The  Rue  de  Ve- 
nise is  now  one  of  the  darkest  and  dirtiest  streets  of 
Paris. 

The  Rue  Quincampoix  had  been  the  resort  for  men 
dealing  in  government  obligations,  and  the  speculation 
in  the  securities  of  Law's  companies  centred  there. 
This  street  soon  became  the  recognized  place  for  such 
transactions,  and  in  the  days  of  the  highest  excitement 
it  presented  a  scene  such  as  could  be  witnessed  no- 
where else  in  the  world.  There  were  no  brokers' 
offices,  and  persons  dealing  in  the  stocks  met  and  traf- 
ficked in  the  highway.  The  cries  of  those  wishing  to 
buy  or  sell  went  up  like  a  hoarse  roar  from  a  multi- 
tude so  dense  that  it  was  often  difficult  to  work  one's 
way  through.  The  street  resembled  a  modern  stock  ex- 
change, except  that  the  number  of  operators  was  many 
times  greater,  they  were  selling  their  own  property  and 
not  that  of  others,  they  were  controlled  by  no  rules 


474  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

as  to  the  conduct  of  business,  and  the  fluctuations  ex- 
ceeded those  of  the  most  exciting  days  of  modern 
speculation.  The  people  dwelling  in  the  houses  along 
the  street  found  it  impossible  to  get  any  sleep,  and 
upon  their  complaint  traffic  was  forbidden  except 
during  the  hours  of  daylight.  This  regulation  was 
enforced  by  putting  railings  at  either  end  of  the 
street.  At  eight  in  the  morning  the  drums  sounded, 
the  gates  were  opened,  and  the  multitude  poured 
in.^  The  plebeians  usually  came  by  the  Rue  des  Ours. 
More  aristocratic  operators  descended  from  their  car- 
riages at  the  other  end,  in  the  Rue  Aubry  le  Boucher. 
The  street  itself  was  so  narrow  that  only  persons  on 
foot  were  allowed  upon  it. 

There  could  be  found  those  of  every  rank  and  oc- 
cupation. Princes  and  priests,  doctors  of  the  Sor- 
bonne  and  shaven  friars,  mingled  with  money-shavers, 
shopkeepers,  valets,  and  coachmen.^  Women  jostled 
for  shares  with  the  men.  Ladies  of  fashion  went 
there,  as  they  went  to  the  opera.  The  cafes  were  full 
of  gentlemen  and  ladies,  who  sipped  their  wine,  played 
quadrille,  and  sent  out  servants  to  execute  their  orders. 
The  owners  of  houses  on  the  street  grew  rich  from 
the  enormous  rents  which  they  obtained.  Money  was 
gained  with  such  rapidity  that  those  plying  the  hum- 
blest trades  received  exorbitant  compensation.  Bar- 
gains were  made  in  the  open  air,  and  as  the  parties 
were  often  unknown  to  each  other  the  transfers  were 
made  at  once.  A  cobbler  put  chairs  in  his  little  shed, 
and  had  pen  and  ink  ready  for  those  who  wished  to 
seat  themselves  and  close  a  bargain.  He  sometimes 
gained  as  much  as  200  livres  a  day.     A  hunchback 

^  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  1100. 
2  lb.,  ii.  1092. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  475 

availed  himself  of  his  deformity,  and  furnished  a 
temporary  desk  for  those  who  wished  to  write.  He 
pleased  the  crowd,  and  became  rich  from  what  was  given 
him.  A  soldier  blessed  with  extraordinarily  broad 
shoulders  offered  himself  for  the  same  service,  and 
was  largely  patronized.  More  judicious  than  many  of 
those  who  had  scrawled  contracts  for  millions  upon  his 
back,  he  invested  his  earnings  in  a  little  piece  of  prop- 
erty in  the  country,  and  there  passed  the  rest  of  his 
life  in  comfort.  Men  who  had  made  thousands  in  an 
hour  spent  them  as  recklessly  as  a  miner  who  has 
struck  gold.  Absurd  prices  were  paid.  A  speculator 
who  had  just  cleared  50,000  livres  gave  200  for  a  fat 
roast  pullet  for  his  dinner.^ 

The  fortunes  made  in  the  Rue  Quincampoix  drew 
speculators  from  every  part  of  Europe.  A  more  cos- 
mopolitan crowd  was  never  seen  than  that  which  there 
jostled,  shouted,  and  bargained.  Thirty  thousand 
foreigners  were  in  Paris  during  the  autumn  of  1719  in 
search  of  fortune,  besides  the  hosts  that  came  from  all 
parts  of  France.^  So  great  was  the  eagerness  to  reach 
the  city  that  seats  in  the  coaches  from  such  towns  as 
Lyons,  Bordeaux,  and  Brussels  were  engaged  long  in 
advance.  Fabulous  prices  were  given  for  a  place,  and 
those  who  could  not  go  to  Paris  and  buy  shares  specu- 
lated in  seats  on  the  stagecoach.^ 

There  were  frequent  and  violent  reactions  on  the  Rue 
Quincampoix,  but  prices  advanced  with  enormous  ra- 

^  Histoire  du  Systeme,  ii.  158,  159. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  iii.  1114.  The  number  of  strangers 
in  the  city  is  put  by  some  at  500,000,  and  even  much  higher. 
In  Paris  at  that  time  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  furnish 
accommodations  of  any  sort  to  one  half  of  that  number. 

8  Journal  de  la  Regence,  iii.  1114. 


476         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

pidity.  For  eight  months  there  continued  what  would 
now  be  called  a  bull  market,  and  the  quotations  of 
shares  gained  on  an  average  over  ten  points  a  day. 
Every  one  was  crazy  with  excitement  long  before 
the  culmination  of  the  speculation.  In  May,  shares 
of  500  livres  were  quoted  at  par.  In  July,  they 
had  reached  1,000.  When  the  new  issues  were  made 
in  September,  they  were  selling  at  5,000.  In  Novem- 
ber, they  reached  10,000.^  They  soon  rose  to  12,000 
and  15,000  ;  there  were  many  sales  at  those  figures, 
and  even  higher.^  It  is  said  that  as  much  as  20,000 
livres  was  paid  for  a  share  of  which  the  par  value  was 
500.^  This  was  4,000  per  cent.  The  highest  prices 
were  obtained  in  December  and  January,  but  though 
the  market  ceased  to  advance,  there  was  no  rapid 
decline.  Shares  fluctuated  between  10,000  and  15,000 
livres,  with  some  sales  at  even  higher  figures,  from 
November,  1719,  until  February,  1720. 

Such  a  rise  furnished  the  opportunity  for  fabulous 
gains.  A  man  who  had  taken  one  of  the  original 
shares,  and  paid  for  it  in  bills  of  the  state  at  sixty  per 
cent,  discount,  could  get  15,000  livres  for  what  cost 
him  200.  Twenty  thousand  livres  placed  in  shares 
in  the  latter  part  of  1718  would  have  realized  nearly 
2,000,000  a  year  later.     A  speculator  who  subscribed 

1  Dutot,  989 ;  Journal  de  la  Regence. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence  for  January  5,  1720.  It  is  said  that 
shares  sold  on  that  day  at  18,000. 

3  Histoire  du  Systeme,  ii.  87.  If  such  a  price  was  ever  paid,  it 
was  exceptional.  Law  gives  13,500  as  about  the  highest  figure. 
Few  shares  were  sold  above  15,000.  Different  amounts  were 
unpaid  on  the  different  issues,  and  this  makes  many  of  the  quo- 
tations misleading.  The  fact  that  there  was  no  official  record  of 
transactions,  and  that  the  fluctuations  were  so  violent,  renders  it 
impossible  to  ascertain  the  highest  figures  realized. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  477 

for  a  share  in  October,  1719,  and  sold  in  November, 
made  1,000  per  cent,  on  his  investment  in  a  month. 

The  fluctuations  were  so  rapid  that  fortunes  were 
made  on  small  ventures,  and  sometimes  without  risk- 
ing anything.  Agents  were  sent  to  sell  shares  at  the 
last  quotation.  By  the  time  they  reached  the  street 
there  was  often  a  sufficient  advance  for  them  to  realize 
a  handsome  profit  in  addition,  which  they  kept  for 
themselves.  A  servant  was  ordered  to  sell  for  his 
master  two  hundred  and  fifty  shares  at  8,000.  He 
found  a  purchaser  at  10-,000,  kept  the  500,000  surplus 
for  himself,  began  dealing  in  the  street,  and  in  a  few 
days  was  a  millionaire.^  A  man  who  was  sent  to  make 
a  payment  bought  some  shares  with  the  money,  and 
went  into  a  restaurant  for  his  dinner.  When  he  re- 
turned to  the  street  two  hours  later,  prices  had  ad- 
vanced eleven  per  cent.  He  sold  the  shares  at  a  profit 
of  40,000  livres,  paid  the  debt,  and  pocketed  the  gain.^ 

The  community  was  startled  to  see  men  of  the  most 
humble  position  suddenly  become  enormously  rich.  A 
valet  was  said  to  have  made  fifty  millions,  a  bootblack 
forty,  and  a  restaurant-waiter  thirty.  The  word  "  mil- 
lionaire," which  has  since  become  so  familiar  both 
in  French  and  English,  was  first  used  to  describe 
the  Mississippian  who  had  suddenly  grown  wealthy. 
Among  all  the  operators,  the  one  who  accumulated 
the  greatest  fortune  was  a  woman  named  Chaumont. 
She  was  a  widow  living  at  Namur,  and  came  to  Paris 
in  the  hope  of  collecting  a  sum  of  money,  the  loss  of 
which  bade  fair  to  ruin  her.  Her  debtor  offered  her 
only  the  paper  of  the  state,  which  was  then  at  sixty 

1  Such  anecdotes  may  be  exaggerated,  but  gains  were  often  so 
sudden  and  so  enormous  that  they  might  well  be  possible. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  iii.  1096. 


478  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

per  cent,  discount.  Despairing  of  better  terms,  she 
accepted  this.  The  shares  of  the  Mississippi  Com- 
pany were  offered  for  subscription,  payable  in  this 
paper,  and  she  put  all  that  she  had  received  into  the 
venture.  Three  years  later  her  wealth  was  estimated 
at  100,000,000  francs.  She  was  assessed  8,000,000  by 
the  government,  paid  it  promptly,  and  remained  rich, 
while  many  of  her  associates  were  again  as  poor  as 
before  the  name  of  the  Mississippi  was  heard  in  Paris.^ 

Sudden  wealth  like  this  brought  corresponding  ex- 
travagance. The  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights  seemed 
to  become  realities.  The  stories  told  of  the  splendor 
of  the  new  millionaires  sound  fabulous,  but  they  were 
probably  little  exaggerated.  A  former  landscape 
painter  was  distinguished  among  his  compeers  by  the 
Oriental  magnificence  of  his  life.  He  purchased  dia- 
monds which  the  king  of  Portugal  had  ordered,  but 
had  not  the  ready  money  to  pay  for  ;  eighty  horses 
stood  in  his  stables,  ninety  servants  waited  at  his 
chateau  ;  only  gold  and  silver  plate  was  seen  upon 
his  table.  It  was  furnished  with  equal  splendor  each 
day  for  a  great  number  of  guests,  even  when  the 
master  was  unable  to  be  with  them.  The  feasts  of 
LucuUus  were  said  to  have  been  neither  more  splendid 
nor  more  curious. 

The  widow  Chaumont,  though  less  ingenious  in  new 
devices,  dispensed  as  bountiful  a  hospitality.  At  her 
chateau  at  Ivry,  an  ox,  two  calves,  six  sheep,  and 
fowls  without  number  were  every  day  consumed  by 
retinues  of  friends  and  servants.  Champagne  and 
burgundy   flowed  without   restraint.^     Another  Mis- 

1  Journal  de  MaraiSy  ii.  353  ;  Histoire  du  Visa,  vol.  ii. ;  Jour* 
nal  de  la  Regence^  1721. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  iii.  1044. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY,  479 

sissippian  obtained  for  his  two-year-old  daughter  a 
promise  of  marriage  from  a  marquis  when  she  should 
reach  the  proper  age.  For  this  he  had  to  pay  the 
suitor  20,000  livres  annually,  with  the  promise  of 
4,000,000  when  the  time  for  the  marriage  arrived. 
The  marquis  received  his  20,000  a  year  until  the  fail- 
ure of  his  prospective  father-in-law  released  him  from 
his  bargain.  "  The  babies  of  the  Mississippians  now 
cry  for  marquises  instead  of  dolls,"  said  a  contem- 
porary, when  the  proposed  alliance  was  announced.^ 

Alike  France  and  the  rest  of  the  world  were  de- 
ceived by  this  sudden  vision  of  untold  riches.  The 
overburdened  country  of  Louis  XIV.  seemed  trans- 
formed into  fairyland.  The  bills  of  the  bank,  of  which 
a  thousand  millions  were  now  in  circulation,  the 
shares  of  the  Company  of  the  Indies,  at  the  absurd 
prices  at  which  they  were  now  selling,  were  thought 
to  be  so  much  added  to  the  national  wealth.  A  grave 
writer  estimated  that  in  November,  1719,  the  country 
was  richer  by  five  milliards  than  it  had  been  a  year 
before.^  And  yet  this  fabulous  increase  was  repre- 
sented only  by  a  few  settlements  in  Louisiana,  and  a 
few  more  ships  trading  with  the  East. 

Other  nations  apprehended  the  commercial  su- 
premacy of  France  as  much  as,  a  few  years  before, 
they  had  feared  the  military  power  of  Louis  XIV. 
Visions  of  an  empire  sustained  by  commerce  suc- 
ceeded to  those  of  an  empire  sustained  by  arms.  The 
English  ambassador,  one  of  the  most  experienced  and 
sagacious  diplomats  of  the  day,  wrote  to  his  govern- 
ment that  the  greatness  of  France  would  be  based 
upon  the  ruin  of  England  and  Holland,  that  Law  was 
a  dangerous  enemy,  who  intended  to  break  the  Bank 
1  Journal  de  Marais,  i.  286.  2  Dutot,  989. 


480         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

and  the  East  India  Company  of  England,  and  to  de- 
stroy her  government.^  The  ambassador  was  recalled 
because  he  was  on  unfriendly  terms  with  the  new 
financial  autocrat. 

The  power  which  Law  had  acquired  from  the  ap- 
parent success  of  his  plans  was  used  to  benefit  the 
country  and  to  increase  his  own  popularity.  The 
company  held  100,000,000  of  the  obligations  of  the 
government,  on  which  four  per  cent,  was  to  be  paid. 
He  offered  voluntarily  to  reduce  this  to  three  per 
cent,  upon  the  condition  that  the  million  thus  saved 
should  be  used  in  reducing  the  taxes  on  some  of 
the  necessaries  of  life.^  The  control  of  the  farms 
furnished  an  opportunity  for  other  reformations.  The 
fees  of  innumerable  officials,  whose  positions  had  been 
created  in  order  to  be  sold,  added  largely  to  the  price 
of  any  article  which  it  was  their  function  to  regulate 
or  inspect.  The  inspectors  received  eleven  pistoles 
on  a  fish  which  sold  for  twenty-eight,  and  this  neces- 
sarily was  paid  by  the*  consumer.  A  number  of  these 
offices  were  now  abolished,  to  the  delight  of  all  ex- 
cept those  who  held  them.  The  price  of  fish,  wood, 
and  coal  in  Paris  was  reduced  one  third  by  such 
changes.^  These  abuses  unfortunately  were  restored 
after  Law's  fall.  The  good  which  he  effected  did  not 
live  after  him. 

Other  reforms  which  he  projected  were  more  radi- 
cal, and  would  have  been  still  more  beneficial,  but 
he  had  no  opportunity  to  put  them  in  practice.^     He 

1  Letters  of  the  Earl  of  Stair,  September  1,9,  1719  ;  February 
4,  March  12,  1720. 

2  Arret,  September  19,  1719. 

8  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  1058. 

*  Some  of  them  are  contained  in  a  MS.  Memoire,  June,  1719. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  481 

obtained,  however,  the  transport  of  grain  from  one 
province  to  another  free  of  duty,^  His  efforts  in 
these  directions  were  all  in  aid  of  liberty  of  com- 
merce. It  should  be  remembered  to  Law's  credit 
that  on  such  questions  his  views  were  far  in  advance 
of  the  age. 

In  addition  to  measures  for  the  general  advantage, 
Law  gave  with  a  magnificent  liberality  to  charity, 
both  public  and  private.  The  adulation  which  he 
received  did  not  destroy  the  courtesy  of  his  manner, 
though  it  perhaps  affected  the  soundness  of  his  judg- 
ment. The  latter  part  of  1719  saw  him  at  the  height 
of  his  greatness.  He  was  the  most  prominent  figure 
in  Europe.  He  visited  the  street,  where  millions 
were  daily  made  out  of  his  enterprises,  and  was  re- 
ceived with  an  enthusiasm  such  as  could  hardly  have 
been  accorded  to  a  sovereign.^  His  native  town  of 
Edinburgh  sent  the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  box 
to  the  Eight  Honorable  John  Law.  The  Chevalier  of 
St.  George,  the  head  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  wrote 
to  ask  his  favor  and  his  bounty.^  He  was  declared 
to  be  a  minister  whose  merits  exceeded  anything  that 
the  past  had  known,  the  present  could  conceive,  or 
the  future  would  believe.^ 

The  services  which  he  had  rendered  France  de- 
served political  recognition,  but  he  was  a  Protestant, 
and  the  law  forbade  any  office  being  held  save  by  a 
Catholic.  He  decided  to  remove  this  obstacle.  The 
choice  which  he  made  of  a  spiritual  adviser  was  not 

1  Arret,  October  28,  1719. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  November,  1719. 

8  Pretender  to  Law,  August  5,  1719.     Law  was  generous  to 
the  fugitive  prince,  as  he  was  to  everybody,  and  sent  him  money. 
*  Cited  in  Wood's  Life  of  Law. 


482         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

judicious,  for  he  selected  the  Abbe  Tencin,  a  man 
whose  morals  were  too  bad  even  for  the  libertine  age 
in  which  he  lived.  The  abbe  was,  however,  one  of 
the  emissaries  of  Dubois,  and  to  this  relationship  he 
probably  owed  the  opportunity  for  making  an  illustri- 
ous convert.  In  November,  Law  abjured  the  errors 
of  Protestantism  in  the  Church  of  San  Roch.  A 
magnificent  dinner  and  ball  celebrated  the  event. 
The  abbe,  who  had  been  the  instrument  of  the  con- 
version, received  shares  worth  200,000  livres  as  a 
recompense.^ 

On  January  5,  1720,  Law  was  made  comptroller 
general.  He  had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  fortunes  ; 
their  decline  was  to  be  even  more  rapid  than  their 
rise. 

Though  the  fabulous  price  of  the  shares  of  the 
company  flattered  Law's  pride,  and  seemed  to  assure 
the  prosperity  which  he  had  promised  to  create,  he 
must  have  seen  the  dangers  which  this  involved.  As 
was  justly  said,  a  seven-story  building  had  been 
erected  on  foundations  that  were  only  intended  for 
three.^  The  figures  at  which  shares  sold  were  not 
based  upon  any  earnings  actually  realized,  or  upon 
any  dividends  already  paid.  Instead  of  the  price 
being  regulated  by  the  dividend,  the  director  was 
obliged  to  regulate  the  dividend  to  suit  the  price. 
Doubtless  he  might  have  contented  himself  with  pay- 
ing what  the  company  could  earn  and  disregarding 
the  quotations.  But  such  a  course  woidd  certainly 
have  involved  a  severe  fall  in  nominal  values.  Law 
feared  the  effect  of  that  upon  the  bank  and  the 
company,  as  well  as  upon  his  own  popularity.  A 
rapid  decline  in  the  market  would  probably  result  in 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  November,  1719.  ^  Dutot. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY,  483 

a  panic,  and  his  system  might  be  ruined  before  there 
was  sufficient  time  to  establish  and  to  develop  it.  His 
confidence  in  his  own  views  had  been  increased  by 
the  events  of  the  last  few  months,  and  his  sanguine 
temperament  led  him  to  believe  that  the  most  rosy 
anticipations  would  ultimately  be  realized.  It  was 
not  with  any  desire  to  sell  his  own  shares  that  Law 
endeavored  to  sustain  the  market  at  the  figures  at 
which  an  excited  public  had  carried  it,  but  because 
he  regarded  this  as  in  accordance  with  the  financial 
principles  of  which  he  was  the  originator. 

In  July,  when  new  shares  were  issued  at  1,000,  the 
directors  of  the  company  had  declared  that  from  Jan- 
uary 1,  1720,  dividends  of  twelve  per  cent,  would  be 
paid  on  the  stock  of  the  company,  or  six  per  cent,  on 
the  price  at  which  it  was  then  offered.  It  is  possible 
that  this  could  have  been  done,  though  only  the  future 
could  assure  it.  To  pay  this  would  have  required 
profits  amounting  to  18,000,000  livres,  but  with  the 
additional  issues  of  stock  after  July  that  sum  would 
not  yield  a  dividend  of  one  half  of  one  per  cent,  upon 
the  increased  capital.  It  was  evident  that  new  esti- 
mates must  be  made,  and  yet  the  only  increase  in  the 
earning  capacity  of  the  company  was  in  a  profit  of  a 
few  millions  on  the  farm  of  the  taxes,  and  a  loan  to 
the  king  at  three  per  cent.  In  December,  the  stock 
consisted  of  624,000  shares.  This  represented  a  great 
sum,  even  at  the  subscription  price,  but  speculation 
had  carried  the  quotations  to  two  and  three  times 
the  highest  amount  paid  the  company.  At  10,000  a 
share,  the  capital  represented  6,000,000,000  livres. 
To  pay  dividends  at  any  rate  which  should  sustain 
these  quotations  was  impossible.  In  one  respect,  how- 
ever, the  enormous  issue  of  bankbills  made  it  easier 


484         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

to  support  these  prices.  Law  had  extolled  the  advan- 
tages of  a  low  rate  of  interest,  and  praised  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Dutch,  who  could  borrow  at  two  per  cent. 
France  now  seemed  equally  fortunate,  for  money  was 
so  plentiful  that  no  more  than  one  and  one  half  per 
cent,  could  be  obtained  for  its  use.  A  low  rate  of  in- 
terest that  is  the  natural  result  of  accumulated  capi- 
tal and  security  of  investment  has  its  advantages ;  but 
when  its  only  cause  is  an  excess  of  currency,  it  is  tem- 
porary and  injurious. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  directors  in  December,  Law 
presented  figures  from  which  he  claimed  that  the 
company  could  pay  forty  per  cent,  on  the  par  value  of 
its  shares.  It  is  unnecessary  to  analyze  them.  The 
profits  which  he  anticipated  could  only  have  been 
earned  after  years  of  judicious  and  successful  devel- 
opment of  the  business  and  resources  of  the  company. 
Even  then  they  would  have  yielded  but  two  per  cent. 
on  the  price  of  the  stock  in  November,  and  it  was 
advancing  every  day.^ 

No  one  examined  the  statement  which  Law  pre- 
sented. The  directors  voted  that  a  forty  per  cent, 
dividend  should  be  paid  annually,  and  the  public  re- 
ceived this  announcement  with  enthusiasm.  In  the 
early  part  of  January  the  shares  of  the. company  com- 
manded the  highest  price  at  which  they  ever  sold.^ 
The  earnings,  even  if  Law's  golden  anticipations  had 
been  realized,  could  have  yielded  little  more  than  one 
per  cent,  on  the  value  which  the  public  put  on  the 
shares,  and  still  speculators  bought  for  a  rise.     But 

1  About  one  third  of  the  issues  of  stock  were  then  held  by 
the  king  and  the  company,  and  on  these  no  dividend  was  prom- 
ised. 

2  Journal  de  la  Regence,  January,  1720. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY.  485 

the  purchasers  were  now  found  among  those  classes 
who,  in  every  community,  make  up  their  minds  to  in- 
vest when  a  speculation  has  culminated.  The  great 
operators  felt  that  the  end  must  come  to  the  delu- 
sion, and  began  to  seek  other  investments  for  their 
gains. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  FAILURE    OF  THE   SYSTEM. 

1720-1721. 

Early  in  November,  many  operators  were  con- 
vinced that  it  was  time  to  realize  their  profits,  and 
large  amounts  of  stock  began  to  be  thrown  on  the 
market.  The  efforts  made  to  sustain  prices,  and  fa- 
vorable statements  as  to  the  prospects  of  the  company, 
prevented  any  serious  fall.  But  symptoms  of  dis- 
trust in  the  new  wealth  which  had  been  poured  upon 
the  community  were  manifested  in  various  directions. 
In  the  height  of  the  speculation,  the  bills  of  the  bank 
had  commanded  a  premium  of  ten  per  cent,  over  spe- 
cie, because  the  company  refused  to  receive  gold  or 
silver  in  payment  of  subscriptions.^  This  condition  of 
affairs  was  short-lived.  Though  the  apparent  pros- 
perity seemed  unabated,  many  began  to  place  their 
paper  wealth  in  some  form  which  should  have  a  more 
solid  basis.  A  few  transferred  their  profits  to  other 
countries,  but  these  were  chiefly  foreign  speculators, 
who  wished  to  put  their  gains  out  of  danger.  The 
most  of  those  who  realized  on  the  securities  of  the 
company  sought  investments  in  France.  A  great  rise 
of  prices  followed.  Land  was  especially  in  demand. 
Owners  who  were  willing  to  take  their  pay  in  paper 
1  Arrets  of  September  22  and  25,  1719. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  487 

could  obtain  almost  any  figure  which  they  saw  fit  to  ask. 
Houses,  chateaux,  and  farms  sold  at  three  and  •  four 
times  their  former  value.  A  property  which  had 
brought  700,000  livres  a  few  months  before  was  now 
sold  for  over  2,000,000.1 

Another  result  of  the  inflation  was  more  felt  by  the 
community  at  large.  The  prices  of  the  necessaries  of 
life  were  steadily  rising.  A  loaf  of  bread  usually  sold 
at  from  one  to  two  sous  a  pound.  In  June,  it  brought 
three  sous.  In  December,  it  was  selling  at  four  and 
five  sous.^  The  cost  of  meat,  butter,  and  other  pro- 
visions had  advanced  in  the  same  proportion.  This 
was  less  felt  while  money  was  plentiful,  wages  were 
high,  and  the  bills  of  the  bank  were  received  without 
question.  But  in  the  early  part  of  1720  vendors 
began  to  look  askance  at  parting  with  their  property 
for  paper ;  bills  were  practically,  if  not  formally,  at 
a  discount;  it  was  difficult  to  purchase  with  them, 
unless  the  buyer  would  offer  a  further  augmentation 
of  price. 

Law  now  began  a  series  of  violent  measures,  by 
which  he  sought  to  sustain  the  tottering  credit  of  his 
institutions.  He  succeeded  only  in  making  the  ruin 
more  complete,  and  in  rendering  his  memory  odious 
to  the  people.  As  the  situation  became  more  difficult, 
he  wandered  far  from  the  principles  of  freedom  in 
trade  which  he  had  advanced  in  his  earlier  writings, 
and  which  to  some  extent  he  had  endeavored  to  put  in 
execution  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity.     He  was  not 

^  Histoire  des  Sieurs  de  Tancarville. 

2  These  prices  are  noted  by  Buvat,  who  lived  in  Paris,  in  the 
journal  which  he  kept  during  the  regency.  The  letters  of 
Laul^s,  the  Spanish  envoy  in  1720,  are  graphic,  and  even  pa- 
thetic, in  their  description  of  the  prices  which  he  was  obliged  to 
pay. 


488         FRANCE    UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

improved  by  adversity.  When  dukes  and  princes 
were  dancing  attendance,  he  had  preserved  a  courte- 
ous manner  and  a  calm  demeanor ;  but  when  circum- 
stances became  adverse,  when  he  was  harassed  by  the 
disappointed  and  reviled  by  the  mob,  he  grew  morose, 
his  remarks  were  ill-tempered,  and  his  measures  were 
exceedingly  injudicious.^  His  position  was  one  which 
he  could  only  hope  to  hold  by  unbroken  prosperity, 
and  he  now  drifted  from  one  folly  to  another.  Many 
erroneous  steps  he  advised,  and  others  he  appeared 
powerless  to  prevent. 

The  desire  for  investments  that  had  an  assured 
value,  together  with  the  extravagance  resulting  from 
sudden  wealth,  had  induced  great  purchases  of  dia- 
monds, plate,  and  jewelry  of  every  sort.  To  prevent 
this,  edicts  prescribing  Spartan  simplicity  were  pro- 
mulgated in  a  community  that  was  reveling  in  Per- 
sian magnificence.  Any  person  wearing  diamonds  or 
other  precious  stones,  without  written  permission,  was 
subject  to  a  heavy  penalty ;  goldsmiths  were  forbid- 
den to  make  or  sell  plate,  and  the  importation  of  these 
articles  was  prohibited.  The  only  exemption  was  in 
favor  of  piety,  for  episcopal  rings  might  still  be  pur- 
chased and  worn.2  'j^j^^  j^^xt  attack  was  on  the  use 
of  gold  for  currency.  Not  only  were  the  bills  of  the 
bank  declared  a  legal  tender,  but  it  was  forbidden  to 
make  any  payment  in  specie  in  excess  of  100  francs, 
under  a  penalty  of  3,000  livres. 

This  measure  was  followed  by  one  still  more  tyran- 
nical. It  was  urged  by  Law  that  only  small  payments 
could  now  be  made  in  the  precious  metals,  and  so 
there  could  be  no  pretext  for  having  large  amounts  in 

1  St.  Simon,  xvii.  164. 

2  Arrets,  February  4  and  18,  1720. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  489 

store.  The  men  who  were  hoarding  the  silver  and 
gold,  which  should  be  circulating  in  the  street  or  on 
deposit  with  the  bank  must  be  forced  to  abandon  their 
evil  practices.  lu  February,  an  edict  forbade  any  per- 
son, of  whatever  rank  or  wealth,  keeping  with  him 
gold  or  silver  to  the  value  of  more  than  500  livres. 
Those  who  offended  against  this  provision  were  sub- 
jected to  a  penalty  of  10,000  livres,  and  the  money 
found  in  their  possession  was  to  be  confiscated  for  the 
benefit  of  the  informer.  In  order  to  enforce  this  regu- 
lation, the  police,  at  the  request  of  the  directors  of  the 
India  Company,  might  enter  any  house  and  search  for 
the  forbidden  treasures.^ 

This  edict  was  no  idle  form  of  words.  Many  were 
terrified  into  bringing  their  money  to  the  bank,  and 
accepted  the  credit  of  that  institution  for  the  gold 
which  they  no  longer  dared  to  hold.  Rigorous  search 
was  made  to  discover  the  hidden  stores  of  delinquents. 
The  bounty  offered  to  informers  appealed  to  the  worst 
passions,  at  a  time  when  manners  and  morals  were 
relaxed.  Servants  lodged  informations  against  their 
masters,  brothers  against  brothers,  a  son  against  his 
father.^  When  a  charge  had  been  made,  or  when  sus- 
picion existed,  the  officers  suddenly  took  possession  of 
the  house.  Floors  were  torn  up,  garrets  ransacked, 
gardens  ploughed  and  spaded,  in  search  of  the  trea- 
sure. In  many  cases  it  was  discovered.  The  informa- 
tion given  by  a  treacherous  kinsman  or  employee  was 
usually  correct. 

Even  religious  establishments  were  not  exempt  from 
this  tyranny.  Several  of  the  principal  cur^s  of  Paris 
were  visited,  and  money  in  excess  of  the  sum  per- 

1  Arret,  February  27,  1720. 

^  This  unnatural  offense  seems  to  be  well  authenticated. 


490         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

liiitted  was  found  in  their  possession.  It  was  in  vain 
they  pleaded  that  these  were  alms  left  with  them  for 
the  use  of  the  poor.  '*  Then  you  should  have  given 
them  to  the  poor,"  was  the  only  answer  they  received, 
aiid  the  moneys  were  confiscated.^  The  odium  of  such 
inquisitorial  proceedings  was  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  law  was  not  equal  for  all.  The  regent  re- 
proached the  Duke  of  Bourbon  and  the  Prince  of 
Conti  for  having  taken  millions  in  gold  from  the  bank. 
The  duke  replied  that  he  had  taken  the  money,  and 
they  could  find  it  if  they  wished.  Commissioners  went 
through  the  form  of  visiting  his  palace,  but  the  search 
for  the  treasure  of  so  powerful  a  nobleman  was  sure 
not  to  be  rigorous.     The  duke  kept  his  gold.^ 

These  measures  Law  sought  to  defend.  He  de- 
nounced the  realizers  who  had  excited  distrust  by  their 
ill-timed  greed,  and  who  were  now  seeking  to  hide  the 
money  which  they  had  gained.  It  was  against  good 
morals,  he  said,  to  store  away  gold  and  silver  which 
had  been  issued  for  the  purposes  of  currency.  It  bore 
the  image  and  superscription  of  the  king;  no  man 
could  have  any  further  right  over  it  than  to  pay  it  for 
the  satisfaction  of  his  tastes  and  desires  ;  the  use  of  it 
belonged  to  his  fellow-citizens ;  it  was  the  blood  of  the 
state ;  who  checked  its  circulation  committed  a  crime. 
Those  who  would  await  the  future  in  confidence  would 
escape  loss,  and  in  the  mean  time  temporary  coercion 
was  justifiable,  where  this  was  for  the  interest  of  the 
people.  They  must  be  forced  to  become  happy.  The 
prince  must  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  system,  until 
it  was  strong  enough  to  walk  alone. ^ 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  March,  1720. 

2  Ih.,  iii.  1220.  See,  also,  St.  Simon,  xvi.  436,  in  reference  to 
the  Prince  of  Conti. 

8  Letter  of  March  11,  1720. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.         491 

All  these  edicts  and  regulations  had  no  effect  except 
to  make  the  situation  worse.  Law  now  resolved  to  do 
away  with  the  use  of  silver  and  gold  altogether^  and  to 
have  paper  the  sole  currency  which  should  circulate 
in  the  community.  On  the  11th  of  March,  an  edict 
declared  that  the  circulation  was  excessive,  and  the 
necessaries  of  life  were  at  exorbitant  prices.  To 
check  these  evils  it  was  enacted  that,  from  the  1st  of 
May  following,  gold  should  no  longer  be  used  in  pay- 
ment for  any  debt,  nor  silver  after  August  1st ;  no 
more  of  either  metal  should  be  coined ;  no  one  should 
have  any  in  his  possession,  except  goldsmiths,  in  such 
quantities  as  might  be  fitting.^  France,  for  a  short 
time,  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the  one  civilized 
country  where  a  man  could  not  pay  his  debts  with  gold 
or  silver,  a  state  of  affairs  which  had  no  parallel  since 
mankind  passed  from  the  era  of  barter  and  chose  the 
precious  metals  as  the  medium  for  exchange. 

To  prohibit  the  use  of  gold  and  silver  was  a  depar- 
ture from  the  principles  on  which  Law's  bank  had 
been  organized  ;  it  was  not,  perhaps,  at  variance  with 
the  vagaries  in  which  he  sometimes  indulged.  He 
had  often  dwelt  on  the  inconvenience  of  the  use  of  the 
precious  metals  for  currency,  and  on  the  fluctuations 
which  they  suffered.  The  sovereign  remedy  for  this 
evil,  he  wrote,  was  to  have  a  sign  of  transmission 
which  should  possess  no  intrinsic  value,  and  of  which 
the  quantity  should  be  fixed  by  the  state  in  accord- 
ance with  the  needs  of  trade.  Paper  was  most  fit  for 
this  use,  and  therefore  it  had  been  adopted  in  France ; 
gold  and  silver,  like  wool  and  silk,  could  now  be  put 
to  some  useful  purpose,  instead  of  circulating  from 
hand  to  hand  ;  as  the  new  signs  of  transmission  would 
1  Declaration,  Ma?ch  11,  1720. 


492         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

have  no  intrinsic  value,  no  one  would  be  tempted  to 
turn  them  from  their  proper  office,  which  was  to  circu- 
late. It  was  idle  to  ask  what  would  be  the  fate  of  the 
last  holder  ;  their  circulation  would  be  established, 
and  there  would  be  no  last  holder.^ 

Almost  twenty  years  before.  Law  had  written  that 
a  state  where  it  was  possible  to  establish  a  currency 
having  no  intrinsic  value,  and  of  which  the  quantity 
should  never  be  less  than  the  needs  of  the  country, 
would  attain  to  power  and  wealth.  France  was  now 
making  the  experiment.  The  supporters  of  the  system 
claimed  that  the  results  would  soon  justify  the  mea- 
sures which  had  been  taken.  Distrust  would  be  dis- 
pelled. With  business  based  upon  credit,  France 
could  do  without  the  metals  which  in  other  countries 
were  thought  to  constitute  wealth.  A  method  to  pro- 
vide sufficient  circulation  had  been  discovered  surer 
than  the  mines  of  Peru,  and  of  which  the  results 
would  be  inexhaustible  riches.^ 

The  other  steps  taken  by  the  government  were  even 
more  extraordinary  than  banishing  gold  and  silver  from 
the  country.  Endeavors  to  sustain  the  prices  of  shares 
by  purchases  in  the  market,  by  highly  colored  state- 
ments, by  an  inflation  of  the  currency,  are  methods 
often  adopted.  But  Law  now  sought  to  fix  their  value 
at  an  absolute  figure,  and  to  turn  the  bank  and  the 
Company  of  the  Indies  into  one  great  corporation, 
of  which  the  two  branches  should  be  mutually  self- 
sustaining.  In  February,  the  royal  bank  and  the 
Company  of  the  Indies  were  consolidated.  Two  weeks 
later,  the  value  of  the  shares  of  the  company  was  fixed 

1  Lettres  sur  le  nouveau  systeme  des  finances,  May  18, 1720. 

2  MS.  in  Bib.  Nat.,  said  to  have  been  written  by  the  Abbd 
St.  Pierre. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM,         493 

at  9,000  livres.  A  bureau  of  conversion  was  opened, 
where  they  were  purchased  at  that  price,  and  paid 
for  in  bills  of  the  bank.  On  the  other  hand,  any 
one  who  wished  to  buy  could,  when  he  pleased,  pre- 
sent his  9,000  livres  and  receive  a  share.  Thus  Law 
hoped  that  he  had  at  last  secured  tranquillity.  The 
fall  in  the  market  would  be  checked ;  large  owners, 
who  were  clamoring  to  be  protected,  would  now  feel 
at  rest.  When  money  was  needed,  holders  would  pre- 
sent their  shares  and  obtain  it ;  when  they  could  find 
no  use  for  their  bills,  they  would  seek  a  security  on 
which  they  could  receive  dividends. 

Very  different  results  ensued.  The  market  was  still 
falling,  and  many  gladly  availed  themselves  of  a  pur- 
chaser which  was  obliged  to  take  all  that  was  offered. 
The  company,  which  had  received  on  its  shares  from 
500  to  5,000  livres,  now  bought  them  back  at  9,000. 
More  than  the  wealth  of  the  West  and  East  Indies 
would  have  been  required  to  sustain  such  an  opera- 
tion.^    It  was  necessary  to  have  more  bills  with  which 

1  In  the  edict  of  June,  1725,  the  loss  of  the  company  by  rea- 
son of  its  operations,  chiefly  in  the  purchase  of  shares,  is  stated 
at  1,470,000,000  livres.  In  the  remonstrance  interposed  by  the 
company  in  1721  against  being  held  responsible  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  bank,  figures  are  given  which  are  probably  accu- 
rate. The  total  amoimt  of  purchases  to  sustain  the  market, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  the  edict  of  March,  amounted 
to  over  2,000,000,000.  Of  this  amount,  587,000,000  were  dis- 
bursed under  the  orders  of  the  regent.  This  enormous  sum 
represents  the  amount  paid  those  who  were  preferred  at  the 
expense  of  the  public,  and  either  received  a  higher  price  than 
that  fixed  by  the  edict,  or  were  paid  for  shares  which  had  cost 
them  nothing.  See,  also.  Law's  Memoires  justificatifs.  The 
amounts  of  stock  and  moneys  given  away  by  the  company  to 
persons  of  influence  were  enough  to  bankrupt  it.  It  was  an  age 
of  jobbery. 


494         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

to  pay  for  the  shares  that  were  presented,  and  the 
currency  was  inflated  to  an  extent  which  far  exceeded 
the  issues  of  the  year  before.  The  eagerness  of  hold- 
ers to  dispose  of  their  stock  was  only  checked  by  the 
fact  that  the  notes  which  they  received  in  payment 
were  rapidly  becoming  worthless.  The  investor  had 
to  choose  between  an  investment  that  would  pay  no- 
thing and  bills  that  would  buy  nothing. 

Violences  committed  in  the  efforts  at  colonization 
increased  the  unpopularity  of  Law  and  his  company. 
The  French  have  never  been  inclined  to  seek  a  home 
in  new  countries.  It  would,  indeed,  have  been  possi- 
ble to  utilize  the  Huguenots.  Many  of  them,  like  the 
English  Puritans,  would  gladly  have  sought  shelter  in 
a  new  land,  where  they  could  enjoy  the  religious  free- 
dom that  was  denied  them  at  home.  In  industry,  in- 
telligence, and  integrity,  they  would  have  equaled  the 
men  who  in  New  England  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
American  Republic.  Such  a  colonization,  which  might 
have  done  much  for  the  expansion  of  France,  was  pre- 
vented by  the  bigotry  of  the  government.  The  de- 
scendants of  Louis  XIV.,  like  their  ancestor,  insisted 
that  their  colonies  should  be  settled  by  Catholics,  or 
not  settled  at  all. 

Different  methods  were  adopted  to  obtain  emigrants, 
and  were  enforced  with  harshness  and  injustice.  By 
law,  vagabonds  and  those  out  of  employment  might 
be  arrested  and  transported  to  Louisiana.  A  reward 
was  offered  for  each  person  thus  furnished.  Actuated 
by  the  hope  of  gain,  the  officers  laid  hands  on  men  and 
women  and  put  them  on  the  ships  of  the  company, 
without  always  considering  whether  they  came  within 
the  letter  of  the  edict.  The  fate  of  these  victims  of 
tyranny  was  bewailed  by  the  public.    Honest  working- 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  495 

men,  it  was  said,  and  innocent  girls  were  arrested  ; 
they  were  treated  with  every  brutality,  and  at  last  sent 
to  a  land  where,  if  they  did  not  die  on  the  passage, 
they  would  soon  be  scalped  by  Indians  or  eaten  by 
alligators.  Some  of  these  unwilling  colonists  made 
desperate  efforts  to  escape  their  fate.  A  party  of 
girls  at  La  Kochelle  refused  to  embark.  The  guard 
fired  upon  them  and  killed  six.^  So  much  discontent 
was  excited  that  the  government  was  obliged  to  mod- 
ify the  edicts,  and  such  endeavors  at  colonization  were 
abandoned. 

The  demoralization  induced  by  the  gambling  excite- 
ment of  the  last  few  months,  and  the  suffering  which 
followed  in  its  train,  appeared  in  every  class  of  society. 
Never  had  murders  and  robberies  been  more  frequent. 
Eleven  persons  were  murdered  at  Paris  within  a  few 
days.  A  man  was  robbed  and  cut  to  pieces  on  the 
Pont  Neuf.  Near  the  Temple  an  overturned  carriage 
was  found  one  morning ;  within  was  the  body  of  an 
unknown  woman,  who  had  apparently  been  murdered 
for  the  purpose  of  robbery,  and  frightfully  mangled  in 
mere  caprice  ;  the  names  of  neither  criminal  nor  vic- 
tim could  be  ascertained.  Citizens  trembled  to  find 
themselves  by  night  in  a  lonely  place.  The  shop- 
keeper picked  his  way  through  the  streets  with  ap- 
prehension, his  torchboy  going  ahead  and  lighting 
the  way. 

Other  crimes  were  forgotten  in  the  excitement  at  a 
murder  committed  by  the  bearer  of  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  names  in  Europe.  The  Count  of  Horn  be- 
longed to  the  ancient  house  of  which  the  Admiral 
Horn,  who  suffered  with  Egmont  on  the  scaffold,  was 

1  Accounts  of  these  disorders  can  be  found  in  Journal  de  la 
Regence,  and  St.  Simon. 


496  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

a  member.  He  was  allied  to  the  most  distinguished 
families  in  Germany  and  France  ;  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans himself  was  his  kinsman.  His  career  added  no 
lustre  to  his  pedigree,  and  he  had  drifted  to  Paris, 
whither  the  most  reckless  adventurers  and  profligates 
of  Europe  were  attracted  by  the  Mississippi  specula- 
tion. 

After  two  months  of  dissipation  in  Paris,  Horn 
found  himself  without  means.  With  two  other  offi- 
cers, —  his  inferiors  in  birth,  but  his  equals  in  profli- 
gacy,—  he  obtained  an  interview  with  a  dealer  in 
shares,  and  made  a  bargain  to  sell  some  at  a  low  price. 
In  order  to  transact  the  business  without  disturbance, 
they  agreed  to  meet  the  next  day  at  an  inn  on  the 
corner  of  the  Eue  de  Venise.  There  the  unfortunate 
dealer  appeared  at  the  appointed  hour  with  150,000 
livres  in  bills.  As  he  was  counting  out  the  money,  he 
was  stabbed  by  Horn,  and  by  him  and  his  associates 
was  murdered  on  the  spot.  His  cries  aroused  the 
attention  of  a  waiter,  and  the  count,  with  one  of  his 
accomplices,  was  captured.  They  were  sentenced  to 
be  executed  by  being  broken  on  the  wheel. 

So  atrocious  a  crime  could  not  be  palliated,  but  the 
great  families  with  which  Horn  was  connected  sought 
to  save  him  from  a  mode  of  death  so  ignominious,  that 
for  three  generations  it  would  exclude  his  near  kins- 
people  from  many  of  the  noble  chapters  and  orders  of 
Germany.  Ordinarily,  the  regent  was  inclined  to  be 
too  indulgent ;  on  this  occasion  he  was  inexorable.  It 
is  probable  that  Law  impressed  upon  him  the  impor- 
tance of  a  conspicuous  example,  which  might  check 
these  frightful  disorders.  Such  a  murder,  committed 
at  a  public  tavern  in  business  hours,  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  speculation  on  the  street,  excited  universal  ap- 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  497 

prehension.  The  holders  of  shares  had  long  been  fear- 
ful as  to  their  wealth,  and  now  they  began  to  be  afraid 
of  their  lives.  Orleans  told  the  noble  suitors  that,  as 
he  was  himself  a  kinsman  of  Horn,  he  would  share  the 
ignominy  with  them,  and  that  the  shame  was  in  the 
crime  and  not  in  the  punishment.  Justice  then,  if  not 
always  sure,  was  usually  expeditious.  Four  days  after 
the  murder,  the  Count  of  Horn  was  broken  on  the 
wheel  at  the  Place  de  Greve,  the  Tyburn  of  Paris.^ 

This  crime  furnished  the  pretext  for  an  act  which 
was  induced  by  other  motives.  While  speculation 
was  rampant,  while  stocks  were  rising  and  fortunes 
were  making,  the  Rue  Quincampoix  was  regarded  by 
the  government  with  favorable  eyes.  Law  had  vis- 
ited it,  had  scattered  gold  among  the  crowd  when 
gold  was  not  yet  under  the  ban.  The  roar  of  buyers 
and  sellers  had  been  grateful  to  the  ears  of  the  great 
projector.  It  was  far  different  when  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  sustain  a  falling  market.  The  street  had  then 
become  the  centre  for  disquieting  rumors.  There  de- 
signing men  attacked  the  credit  of  the  state,  and 
sought  to  depress  securities  for  their  own  selfish  gains. 
It  became  odious  in  his  eyes.  Those  who  endeavor 
to  bring  down  prices  are  as  necessary  in  a  business 
community  as  vinegar  in  salad,  but  they  are  never 
popular. 

Furthermore,  Law  declared  that  a  market  for  the 
securities  of  the  company  was  no  longer  required. 
The  price  of  shares  had  been  fixed  at  9,000  livres. 
At  that  figure  they  would  be  either  bought  or  sold  by 
the  government.  The  era  for  fluctuations  was  past. 
The  time  for  fixed  values  had  arrived.     The  manipu- 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  March  21-26,  1720  ;  St.  Simon,  xvii. 
42-48  ;  Recueil  de  Gueulette, 


498  FRANCE    UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

lations  of  the  street  were  meaningless,  and  could  be 
productive  only  of  harm.^ 

The  crimes  which  had  lately  been  committed  were 
alleged  as  the  reason  for  prohibiting  such  specula- 
tions. On  March  22,  1720,  the  day  of  the  murder 
committed  by  Horn,  an  edict  forbade  any  transactions 
in  shares  on  the  Rue  Quincampoix.  The  brief  glory 
of  that  famous  street  passed  away  forever.  The  gov- 
ernment also  prohibited  similar  transactions  in  any 
part  of  Paris,  under  a  heavy  penalty.^  The  police 
kept  a  vigilant  lookout  for  merchants  and  brokers 
dealing  in  public  securities.  A  group  of  men  would 
gather  in  some  place,  shares  would  be  offered,  bids 
made,  bargains  consummated.  Suddenly  the  cry 
would  be  heard,  "  The  watch !  "  Instantly  operators, 
merchants,  clerks,  would  disperse,  and  seek  escape  by 
the  alleys  and  courtyards,  like  a  band  of  mischievous 
boys.  But  though  prices  were  fixed  and  dealings  for- 
bidden, men  still  continued  to  buy  and  sell  their  own 
property.  After  two  months  of  ineffectual  endeavors 
to  stop  such  transactions,  operations  in  shares  were 
again  authorized,  and  the  Place  VendSme  was  assigned 
as  the  theatre  for  them.  The  speculation  which  was 
there  carried  on  never  rivaled  in  excitement  and  bril- 
liancy the  great  months  of  the  Rue  Quincampoix. 

Though  the  price  of  shares  was  going  down,  and 
the  price  of  bread  was  going  up,  though  crimes  were 
frequent  and  distress  was  beginning  to  be  felt,  the 
luxury  and  the  license  of  the  regency  were  never  more 
unchecked.  The  receipts  of  the  opera  had  been 
60,000  livres  in  1719  ;  they  were  over  700,000  in  1720. 
The  festivities   of   the  carnival  were  more    splendid 

1  These  arguments  are  set  out  in  the  edict  of  March  22. 

2  Edict  of  March  28. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  499 

than  usual.  The  regent  and  the  Duke  of  Bourbon 
appeared  at  these  amusements  accompanied  by  their 
mistresses,  who  were  attired  with  all  the  magnificence 
that  money  could  purchase.  Law  was  seen  in  the 
loge  of  the  regent,  and  this  was  viewed  by  the  mob, 
with  whom  he  was  now  unpopular,  as  an  instance  of 
his  English  impudence.^  A  party  of  young  profli- 
gates stopped  the  funeral  procession  of  one  of  their 
associates,  and  horrified  the  clergy  in  attendance  by 
insisting  that  their  comrade  had  died  of  thirst,  and 
offering  wine  for  the  use  of  the  corpse  on  its  journey 
to  another  world.^ 

The  purchase  of  shares  by  the  company,  resulting 
from  Law's  unfortunate  attempt  to  fix  their  value, 
kept  the  printing-presses  of  the  bank  in  active  opera- 
tion.^ Such  an  inflation  of  the  currency  had  never 
before  been  known.  The  prices  of  articles  that  had 
been  high  before  now  became  preposterous.  The 
bills  that  had  formerly  been  distrusted  were  now 
regarded  as  worthless.  Another  measure,  in  reality 
much  less  injurious  than  many  which  had  preceded 
it,  destroyed  what  little  confidence  the  public  still  had 
in  the  royal  bank  and  the  Company  of  the  Indies. 

On  ^May  21,  a  royal  edict  declared  that,  in  order 
to  provide  for  foreign  commerce  and  to  lessen  the 
immoderate  price  of  provisions,  it  was  expedient  to 
reduce  the  amount  of  the  circulation  by  lowering  the 
value  of  money,  and  that  the  price  which  had  been 
fixed  for  shares  should  also  be  diminished  in  like 
proportion.     For  these  reasons  it  was  enacted  that  a 

1  Marais,  i.  324.  ^  Journal  de  la  Regence,  March  20, 1720. 

s  Dutot  gives  the  issues  of  bills  authorized  between  March  26 
and  May  17,  1720,  at  1,496,400,000.  Almost  three  milUards  of 
paper  were  in  circulation. 


500    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

bank-bill  which  represented  one  hundred  livres  on 
May  21,  should  be  worth  only  eighty  on  the  22d,  and 
should  suffer  successive  reductions  until  on  the  1st  of 
December  it  would  represent  but  fifty  livres.  The 
price  of  shares  of  the  company  was  also  to  be  re- 
duced month  by  month,  until  on  the  1st  of  December 
a  share  of  which  the  value  had  been  fixed  at  9,000 
livres  would  be  received  at  5,000.  The  bills  were  re- 
duced one  half  in  value,  and  the  shares  four  ninths.^ 

This  famous  edict  was  in  reality  a  mere  juggling 
with  figures,  which  made  no  man  either  richer  or 
poorer.  Calling  a  bill  one  of  a  hundred  francs,  when 
it  would  only  buy  what  fifty  francs  had  once  pur- 
chased, was  a  matter  of  words  and  nothing  more.  It 
was  the  same  with  the  shares.  No  royal  edict  could 
fix  their  price  any  more  than  that  of  any  other  com- 
modity. Their  value  would  ultimately  be  regulated  by 
the  dividends  which  they  earned.  It  was  absurd  that 
the  government  should  forever  stand  ready  to  take 
them  at  a  certain  figure.  If  they  became  worth  more, 
they  would  all  go  into  the  hands  of  investors.  If  they 
became  worth  less,  the  government  would  have  to  pur- 
chase them  all :  the  Company  of  the  Indies  would  no 
longer  represent  the  capital  of  the  community,  and 
public  credit  would  be  ruined  by  the  issue  of  undue 
quantities  of  bills  with  which  to  buy  shares  at  a  ficti- 
tious price.  So  far  as  the  edict  went,  it  did  not  injure 
the  position  of  holders.  The  5,000  livres  which  they 
could  receive  in  December  would  be  worth  quite  as 
much  as  the  9,000  which  the  government  had  been 
ready  to  give  them  in  May.  They  would  buy  as 
many  bushels  of  grain,  as  many  sheep  and  oxen,  as 
much  of  the  objects  of  human  desire. 

1  Edict  of  May  21,  1720  ;  Dutot,  918. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM,  501 

While  all  this  was  so,  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
public  mind  was  very  different.  The  man  who  had  a 
hundred  livre  note  was  told  that  in  six  months  that 
note  would  be  worth  fifty  livres.  The  operator  who 
had  lulled  himself  with  the  belief  that  he  was  worth  a 
million  saw  his  property  proclaimed  to  be  only  five 
hundred  thousand.  The  wealth  represented  by  mil- 
liards of  shares  and  bills  had  been,  indeed,  but  a 
dream,  but  it  was  a  stern  awakening  to  have  a  royal 
edict  proclaim  the  fact  that  this  was  worth  only  half 
what  it  professed  to  be.  The  inviolability  of  the  bills 
of  the  bank,  said  their  holders,  had  been  promised  by 
Law,  had  been  guaranteed  by  the  king.  Now  they 
were  suddenly  told  that,  on  a  bill  which  promised  a 
thousand  francs,  only  five  hundred  would  be  paid. 

The  results  of  the  edict  led  many  to  deny  that  it 
originated  with  Law.  Certainly  he  took  part  in  fram- 
ing it,  and  was  induced  to  give  it  his  approval,  even 
if  he  did  not  first  devise  it.  His  most  faithful  disci- 
ple declared  that  the  fatal  error  was  its  repeal,  and 
not  its  adoption.^  We  may  safely  reject  the  fiction 
which  makes  this  edict  the  cunning  device  of  enemies 
laboring  to  overthrow  the  system.  There  was  no  one 
in  the  counsels  of  the  regent  who  sufficiently  under- 
stood financial  principles  to  be  sure  as  to  the  result  of 
any  of  the  measures  which  were  adopted.  Law  him- 
self was  harassed  and  dazed  by  the  confusion  in  which 
the  finances  had  become  involved,  and  we  look  in 
vain  for  adhesion  to  any  principle  in  the  measures 
which  he  advocated.  If  he  were  to  be  judged  solely 
by  this  part  of  his  career,  he  could  only  be  pronounced 
a  shallow  charlatan.  The  difficulties  which  he  encoun- 
tered were  greater  than  he  could  overcome,  and  his 
^  See  Dutot,  Reflexions  politiques  sur  les  JinanceSj  1738. 


502  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

desperate  efforts  to  sustain  the  dec'lining  fortunes  of 
his  enterprises  are  pathetic  in  their  impotency.  The 
ruin  of  Law's  system  was  due  to  the  absurd  prices  to 
which  speculation  carried  the  shares  of  the  company, 
and  to  his  endeavors  to  maintain  fictitious  valuations 
by  the  purchase  of  shares  at  vastly  more  than  had 
been  received  for  them.  The  necessary  result  of  this 
procedure  was  the  bankruptcy  of  both  the  company  and 
the  bank.  The  lavishness  of  the  regent,  the  over-con- 
fidence of  Law,  the  greed  of  courtiers,  only  hastened 
the  ruin  and  made  it  more  disastrous.  The  experi- 
ment of  an  excessive  issue  of  paper  money  resulted, 
as  it  always  must  result,  in  brief  inflation  and  long 
depression.  Indeed,  the  history  of  this  era  could  be 
used  as  an  object-lesson  to  illustrate  the  results  of  the 
favorite  schemes  of  demagogues.  Banking  and  the 
most  important  industries  were  put  in  the  hands  of 
the  state  ;  currency  was  issued  under  the  control  of  the 
government,  and  in  amounts  to  meet  the  supposed  re- 
quirements of  business ;  the  average  circulation  in 
proportion  to  the  population  was  larger  than  in  any 
other  country ;  the  value  of  the  specie  standard  was 
lowered ;  and  as  a  result  of  such  measures  Frauce  was 
involved  in  the  most  disastrous  panic  which  she  has 
ever  experienced.  It  is  thus  that  a  contemporary 
sums  up  the  history  of  the  system :  "  It  has  enriched 
a  thousand  beggars,  and  beggared  a  hundred  thousand 
honest  men."  ^ 

The  only  real  effect  of  the  edict  of  May  was  to  shake 
confidence,  but  that  was  sufficient  to  hasten  a  catas- 
trophe which  had  long  been  inevitable.  An  appall- 
ing chorus  of  complaint  and  recrimination  greeted  the 
ill-fated  measure.  Everybody  persisted  in  thinking 
^  Journal  de  Marais,  i.  386. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  603 

that  he  was  worth  only  half  as  much  as  he  had  been 
before.  Alarmed  at  the  state  of  public  feeling,  the 
edict  was  rescinded  six  days  after  it  had  been  promul- 
gated, but  the  shock  which  public  confidence  had  re- 
ceived was  not  affected  by  the  repeal.  It  was  apparent 
that  both  the  shares  and  the  paper  currency  of  the 
government  were  a  fictitious  wealth,  which  might  be 
called  one  sum  to-day  and  another  to-morrow.  The 
universal  desire  was  to  obtain  in  its  place  something, 
the  value  of  which  was  based  upon  a  certain  footing, 
and  could  be  changed  by  no  edict  of  government. 

From  this  time,  the  slow  and  painful  process  of 
liquidation  really  began.  Law  struggled  to  restore 
the  broken  fortunes  of  the  Company  of  the  Indies,  but 
one  by  one  the  measures  were  annulled  by  which  the 
financial  systems  of  mankind  had  been  temporarily 
overthrown.  Towards  the  last  of  May  the  prohibition 
of  the  use  of  the  precious  metals  as  currency  was  re- 
pealed. The  experiment  of  banishing  gold  and  silver 
from  the  marts  of  the  world  was  abandoned  before  it 
had  been  fairly  made.  As  a  necessary  consequence, 
the  edict  which  forbade  the  possession  of  more  than 
five  hundred  livres  in  specie  was  done  away  with. 
Any  one  might  have  as  much  gold  and  silver  as  he 
could  lawfully  obtain.^  "  Alas,"  said  a  contemporary, 
"  the  permission  comes  when  nobody  has  any  left."  ^ 

The  depreciation  of  the  currency  caused  such  se- 
rious disturbance  that,  later  in  the  century,  this  might 
have  ripened  into  revolution.  Butchers,  bakers,  gro- 
cers, the  most  of  the  tradespeople,  were  unwilling  to 
receive  paper  money  at  all.  Specie  had  been  driven 
out  of  circulation.     There  arose  a  fierce  demand  for 

1  Arrets,  May  29  and  June  1,  1720. 

2  Journal  de  Barhier. 


504  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

something  with  which  one  could  buy  bread  to  eat, 
wood  to  burn,  and  clothes  to  wear.  What  had  been 
a  condition  of  need  bade  fair  to  become  a  condition 
of  physical  distress.  It  was  impossible  for  the  bank 
to  redeem  in  gold  the  bills  which  had  been  so  pro- 
fusely issued.  Its  reserve  in  the  precious  metals  was 
not  two  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  its  circulation. 
The  community  was  no  longer  content  with  a  sign  of 
transmission  which  possessed  no  intrinsic  value,  and 
the  regent  dared  not  leave  the  populace  of  Paris  in 
a  condition  where  bread  riots  might  endanger  the 
government. 

Endeavors  were  made  to  increase  the  reserve,  and 
to  diminish  the  desire  for  specie  by  a  series  of  con- 
flicting edicts.  The  value  of  gold  and  silver  was  al- 
ternately raised  and  reduced.  From  September,  1719, 
to  December,  1720,  the  value  of  gold  was  changed 
twenty-eight  times,  and  that  of  silver  thirty-five.^ 
This  surpassed  the  worst  record  of  the  old  regime.  A 
louis  ranged  in  value  from  thirty  to  seventy-two  livres 
within  six  months.  The  weight  of  gold  was  the  same, 
but  the  sum  for  which  the  government  would  issue  or 
receive  it  fluctuated  with  startling  rapidity.  Such 
measures  had  no  effect.  In  a  condition  of  panic,  the 
only  desire  was  to  lay  hold  of  a  piece  of  gold,  whether 
it  was  called  ten  francs  or  fifty.  It  would  buy  some- 
thing for  daily  needs,  or  it  could  be  put  aside  with  the 
assurance  that  ultimately  it  would  command  its  real 
value.  There  was  a  large  number  of  bills  of  the  de- 
nomination of  ten  livres,  or  about  two  dollars.  These 
were  mostly  in  the  hands  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  an 
endeavor  was  made  to  relieve  the  necessities  of  those 
in  greatest  need  by  their  redemption.  On  June  1, 
1  Recherches  historiques  sur  le  systeme  de  Law,  203. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  505 

the  bank  again  began  specie  payments.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  redeem  bills  of  one  hundred  livres,  but 
soon  only  those  of  ten  livres  were  paid.  Payments 
were  slow,  and  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy  the  mul- 
titude who  flocked  to  the  Rue  Vivienne  in  search 
of  specie,  with  which  to  defray  their  daily  expenses. 
The  streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  magnificent  buildings 
of  the  Company  of  the  Indies  were  again  filled  with 
great  throngs,  but  they  bore  little  resemblance  to  the 
crowds  of  eager  and  sanguine  speculators  who  had 
jostled  each  other  in  the  same  streets  only  nine  months 
before.  All  had  then  been  desirous  to  participate  in 
the  wealth  with  which  Law  was  to  endow  France  ; 
they  were  rich  in  anticipation,  if  not  in  reality.  Those 
who  were  now  found  there  were  actuated,  not  by  the 
hope  of  gain,  but  by  the  fear  of  starvation ;  holding 
in  their  hands  a  solitary  ten-franc  note,  they  occupied 
the  long  hours  of  waiting  with  cursing  Law  and  his 
schemes. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  people  began  to 
gather  about  the  bank,  although  the  office  for  pay- 
ment was  not  open  until  nine.  It  usually  closed  at 
noon,  and  many  who  had  waited  nine  or  ten  hours 
during  the  chill  of  the  night,  and  under  the  sun  of  a 
July  morning,  were  unable  to  reach  the  wicket,  and 
went  away  with  only  fatigue  for  their  pains.  Strong, 
burly  men  worked  their  way  through  the  crowd,  elbow- 
ing and  trampling  upon  those  who  were  less  robust. 
Some  climbed  the  trees,  and  by  their  aid  endeavored 
to  swing  themselves  over  the  heads  of  the  throng  and 
reach  a  place  in  the  court  of  the  bank.  Serious  in- 
juries were  common,  and  not  infrequently  persons 
were  suffocated  or  trampled  to  death  in  the  press. 
Several  women  lost  their  lives  in  this  way,  and  the 


506         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

fate  of  these  unfortunate  victims  embittered  the  feel- 
ings of  the  populace.  On  July  17,  fifteen  thousand 
people  were  in  the  Rue  Vivienne  by  three  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  crowd  was  so  terrible  that  when  day  came 
sixteen  persons  were  found  suffocated.  Appalled  at 
such  a  calamity,  the  mob  abandoned  its  efforts  to  reach 
the  bureau,  and  proceeded  to  show  its  resentment. 
Part  of  the  crowd  rushed  to  the  Louvre,  and  there  ex- 
posed under  the  window  of  Louis  XV.'s  chamber  the 
body  of  one  of  the  women  who  had  been  killed.  A 
still  greater  multitude,  placing  the  bodies  of  four  of 
the  victims  on  stretchers,  carried  them  to  the  Palais 
Royal,  the  residence  of  the  regent.  Only  leaders  were 
needed  to  instigate  an  assault  upon  the  palace,  and  to 
anticipate  some  of  the  horrors  of  the  Revolution.  But 
the  mob  was  appeased  by  soft  words.  Relays  of  sol- 
diers and  police  arrived,  and  the  streets  were  cleared. 
While  many  of  the  malcontents  were  still  assembled, 
the  carriage  of  Law  drove  through  their  midst.  His 
livery  was  recognized.  A  woman  cried  out  to  him, 
"  If  there  were  four  more  women  like  myself,  you 
would  be  torn  to  pieces."  It  seemed  probable  that 
such  would  be  his  fate,  but  by  his  self-possession  Law 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  crowd  at  bay,  and  made  his 
escape  by  a  back  door  of  the  palace.  The  carriage 
was  overturned,  and  the  coachman  had  his  leg  broken. ^ 
Law  remained  in  concealment  at  the  Palais  Royal  for 
ten  days.  His  family,  as  well  as  himself,  were  in 
danger  from  the  hostility  of  the  mob.  His  daughter, 
a  child  of  thirteen,  was  in  her  carriage  when  some  ruf- 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  Marais  and  Barbier  for  July  17.  Bu- 
vat,  the  author  of  the  Journal  de  la  Regence,  worked  near  tlie 
scene  of  these  assemblages  about  the  bank,  and  nearly  lost  his 
own  life  in  one  of  them. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM,  507 

fian  cried  out,  "  That  is  the  livery  of  the  beggar  who 
doesn't  pay  his  bills  of  ten  francs."  The  carriage 
was  pelted  with  mud,  and  the  girl  received  slight  in- 
juries. Madame  de  Torcy  was  taken  for  Law's  wife 
by  some  peasants,  and  they  were  about  to  drown  her 
in  a  neighboring  pond.  Only  by  proving  her  identity 
could  she  escape  their  violence.^ 

The  disorders  and  loss  of  life  on  the  Rue  Vivienne 
furnished  a  pretext  for  discontinuing  the  redemption 
of  the  bills  of  ten  livres.  Specie  payments  by  the 
bank  were  entirely  suspended.  Money  was  furnished 
to  some  of  the  bakers  and  vendors  of  supplies,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  danger  of  actual  famine. 

During  this  season  of  distress,  the  work  of  destroy- 
ing Law's  great  institution  of  credit  went  slowly  on. 
New  rentes  were  offered  to  the  public,  in  the  hope  of 
retiring  some  of  the  excessive  currency.  The  govern- 
ment was  held  in  such  distrust  that  the  community 
regarded  the  rentes  as  worthless  as  the  bills.  Sub- 
scriptions for  them  were  slowly  received.  Less  than 
one  third  of  the  624,000  shares  of  the  Company  of  the 
Indies  were  now  in  the  hands  of  the  public.  Those 
that  were  held  by  the  king  and  the  company  were  can- 
celed, and  the  capital  was  reduced  to  200,000  shares. 
Their  price  continued  its  downward  course  with  in- 
creasing rapidity.  In  July,  they  sold  at  4,200,  payable 
in  bills  which  were  themselves  at  a  discount  of  fifty 
per  cent. 

In  September,  another  edict  endeavored  to  fix  the 
value  of  the  discredited  shares,  and  to  provide  a 
bureau  for  their  purchase.  The  fall  continued,  un- 
affected by  such  measures,  and  by  any  measures  which 
the  government  adopted.  Law  had  appreciated  the 
^  Journal  de  Marais,  i.  338. 


508  FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

necessity  of  credit  for  great  business  enterprises  ;  he 
was  now  to  experience  the  helplessness  of  any  efforts 
when  credit  is  lacking.  By  October  7,  bills  were  at 
a  discount  of  almost  eighty  per  cent.  An  edict  issued 
on  October  10,  1720,  may  be  regarded  as  the  formal 
close  of  the  system.  It  declared  that  in  their  pres- 
ent discredited  condition  the  bankbills  which  were 
still  outstanding  were  a  hindrance  to  commerce,  and 
worked  evils  that  only  the  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ments could  remove.  From  the  1st  of  November, 
therefore,  they  could  no  longer  be  used  as  currency ; 
contracts  must  again  be  discharged  and  payments 
made  in  gold  and  silver.  The  paper  currency  of  the 
state,  after  an  experience  of  less  than  two  years,  was 
extinguished.  The  experiment  was  abandoned  of  a 
circulation  that  should  expand  with  the  needs  of  trade. 
After  this  measure,  the  stock  of  the  company  reached 
the  lowest  figure.  In  November,  shares  sold  for 
2,000,  payable  in  paper  that  was  then  worth  but 
ten  cents  on  the  dollar.  In  January,  1721,  a  gold 
louis  purchased  a  share  of  stock  which  had  sold  a 
year  before  for  20,000  livres.^  It  was  a  fall  from 
4,000  per  cent,  to  nine  per  cent,  in  twelve  months.^ 
The  results  of  such  a  depreciation  are  described  by 
one  of  the  sufferers.  "Last  January,"  writes  Bar- 
bier,  "  I  had  60,000  livres  in  paper.  Its  value  was 
imaginary,  to  be  sure,  but  I  had  only  to  realize  on  it 
and  turn  it  into  money.     I  did  not  have  the  wisdom 

^  Histoire  du  Visa^  i.  53.  Duhautchamp  says  that  shares  sold 
at  thirty  livres,  or  six  per  cent.  The  lowest  prices  were  during 
the  proceedings  of  the  Visa,  when  many  wished  to  get  rid  of 
their  stock  at  any  price.  Those  who  bought  at  this  time  sub- 
sequently realized  a  handsome  profit. 

2  The  value  of  the  louis  was  then  45  livres. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  509 

or  the  good  luck  to  do  so.  Now  it  is  worthless,  and, 
though  I  have  neither  speculated  nor  lost,  to-day  I 
have  not  enough  money  to  give  New  Year's  gifts  to 
my  servants."  ^  During  these  lamentable  experiences, 
the  French  people  relieved  their  feelings  by  satire, 
instead  of  by  insurrection.  Epigrams  of  every  vari- 
ety criticised  Law,  the  regent,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon, 
any  one  whom  the  public  counted  among  the  authors 
of  their  misfortunes.  Among  the  burlesque  titles  of 
books  which  were  announced  as  ready  for  publication 
we  find,  "  Dissertation  on  the  Philosopher's  Stone,"  by 
M.  Law,  dedicated  to  the  regent;  "The  Art  of  Convert- 
ing those  who  have  no  Religion,"  by  the  Abbe  Tencin, 
dedicated  to  Law ;  "  A  Treatise  on  Christianity,"  by 
the  Abb^  Dubois,  dedicated  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans.^ 
A  well-known  epitaph  declared  the  merits  of  the  un- 
paralleled calculator  who,  by  the  rules  of  algebra, 
had  brought  France  to  the  almshouse.^  The  libels 
on  the  regent  were  more  severe  than  on  Law,  and  he 
was  greatly  annoyed  by  them.  Murder  and  incest 
were  among  the  offenses  constantly  laid  to  his  charge, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  shown 
some  sensitiveness. 

Law's  errors  involved  in  the  common  ruin  the  bene- 
ficial institutions  with  which  he  had  sought  to  endow 
France.  The  bank,  which  under  proper  regulations 
had  been  of  great  advantage  to  trade,  passed  out  of 
existence.     Almost  a  century  was  to  elapse  before  the 

^  Journal  de  Barhier,  January  1,  1721. 
^  Journal  de  la  Regence,  February,  1720. 
8  Cy  git  cet  Ecossais  cel^bre, 

Ce  calculateur  sans  ^gal, 

Qui,  par  les  regies  de  Talgebre, 

A  mis  la  France  k  I'hopital. 


510         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

organization  of  the  Bank  of  France.  The  reforms 
which  Law  had  effected  in  taxation  were  abandoned ; 
those  which  he  had  contemplated  now  found  no  one 
to  advocate  them.  The  great  projector  remained  for 
several  months  a  spectator  of  the  ruin  of  the  system 
by  which  he  had  hoped  to  change  the  face  of  the 
world.  Among  all  who  suffered  from  the  disasters  in 
which  France  was  involved,  we  may  be  sure  that  Law 
was  himself  the  most  miserable.  He  was  odious  to  a 
people  whose  welfare  he  had  sought ;  his  ambition 
was  crushed,  his  cherished  discoveries  had  become  the 
laughing-stock  of  some,  and  the  anathema  of  others. 
His  life  had  often  been  in  danger ;  his  family  were 
exposed  to  the  insults  of  the  mob.  In  May,  he  had 
been  removed  from  the  office  of  comptroller  general. 
Orleans,  however,  remained  friendly  to  the  fallen 
minister.  He  was  not  restored  to  his  position  as 
comptroller,  but  he  continued  to  act  as  director  of  the 
bank  and  of  the  company.  There  he  exercised  some  in- 
fluence on  the  measures  of  the  next  few  months,  though 
his  advice  was  less  heeded  as  it  became  apparent  that 
no  ingenuity  could  save  the  system  from  bankruptcy. 
His  enemies  were  numerous,  and  they  were  eager  for 
his  prosecution.  Two  years  before,  the  populace  had 
been  excited  by  the  report  that  the  officers  of  the  Par- 
liament were  to  arrest  Law,  try  him,  and  hang  him 
within  three  hours.^  Such  summary  punishment  did 
not  now  seem  unlikely.  But  the  regent  was  loath  to 
take  severe  measures  against  one  who  had  committed 
no  crime  for  which  he  should  be  sacrificed  to  public 
clamor.  It  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  Duke 
of  Bourbon  that,  unlike  many  others,  he  did  not  de- 
sert the  man  by  whom  he  had  been  enriched.  On 
1  St.  Simon,  xv.  354;  Barbier,  September,  1718. 


THE  FAILURE   OF   THE  SYSTEM.  511 

December  21,  1720,  Law  received  his  passport ;  he 
left  his  country  seat  and  went  directly  to  Brussels. 
He  was  arrested  on  the  way  by  an  over-zealous  official, 
but  orders  were  sent  from  Paris  which  set  him  at  lib- 
erty. At  Brussels  he  was  received  with  distinction, 
but  his  public  career  was  ended.  It  was  said  that  he 
was  invited  by  the  Czar  to  visit  Russia,  and  reorganize 
the  finances  of  that  country.  There  was  probably 
little  foundation  for  such  a  report.  At  all  events,  he 
did  not  respond  to  the  invitation.  He  traveled  from 
one  city  to  another,  went  again  to  England,  and  at 
last  took  up  his  residence  in  Venice.  Those  who  com- 
plained because  Law  was  not  brought  to  justice  de- 
clared that  he  had  carried  away  with  him  enormous 
wealth.  This  was  entirely  false.  He  took  with  him 
almost  nothing.  The  Duke  of  Bourbon  offered  him 
some  money  when  he  was  about  to  leave,  but  Law 
declined,  and  with  characteristic  generosity  gave  a 
valuable  ring  to  Mme.  de  Prie,  who  had  assisted  him 
in  his  escape. 

Indeed,  in  all  that  he  did,  it  is  impossible  to  deny 
Law  the  praise  of  being  actuated  by  a  sincere  desire 
to  augment  the  public  happiness.  He  said  that  an 
ambition  to  increase  the  welfare  of  France,  more  than 
any  personal  interest,  engaged  him  in  his  undertaking, 
and  this  was  true.^  "  In  my  labors,"  he  wrote  the 
regent,  "  I  wished  to  be  useful  to  a  great  people.  I 
desired  neither  wealth  nor  office,  except  as  they  aided 
me  to  succeed  in  my  purpose."  ^     By  the  rise  in  price 

1  Lettre  I.,  Sur  les  Banques.  See,  also,  Barbier,  i.  287,  and  let- 
ters of  Law  from  Venice. 

2  Law  to  Regent,  March  1, 1721.  "  En  travaillant,  j'avais  en 
vue  d'etre  utile  k  un  grand  peuple  ;  je  ne  ddsirais  les  biens  ni 
les  charges  qu'autant  quelles  pourraient  m'aider  k  r^ussir  dans 
mon  dessein." 


512         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  the  shares  of  the  company  he  himself  profited,  but 
his  gains  were  small  when  compared  with  those  of 
many  fortunate  speculators,  or  of  many  nobles  who 
used  the  opportunities  which  their  rank  and  influence 
procured  for  themo  Law's  confidence  in  the  solidity  of 
his  enterprises  was  shown  by  the  investment  he  made 
of  his  profits.  He  bought  largely  of  land  in  France. 
When  so  many  rushed  to  the  bank,  to  drain  it  of 
gold  in  exchange  for  their  bills,  when  it  was  charged 
that  the  Prince  of  Conti  insisted  on  converting  the 
enormous  quantity  of  bills  and  shares  which  he  held 
into  specie,  and  took  away  three  carts  full,  Law  took 
nothing  for  himself.^  He  sent  away  no  money  for  his 
own  use,  he  made  no  investments  in  other  countries  ; 
he  came  to  France  a  rich  man  and  he  left  it  a  beggar. 
He  stood  by  his  own  institutions,  and  was  involved  in 
their  overthrow.  There  is  a  dignity  in  his  character 
and  in  his  ruin.  Amid  the  sordid  and  vulgar  passions 
which  were  excited  by  the  Mississippi  scheme,  its  un- 
fortunate inventor  showed  a  public  spirit  and  a  disin- 
terestedness that  were  exhibited  by  few  others. 

His  property  was  all  in  France,  and  it  was  seized 
by  the  government.  Of  this  he  complained,  and  justly. 
His  administration,  both  of  the  bank  and  of  the  com- 
pany, had  been  an  honest  one.  He  was  not  liable  for 
their  debts.  He  made  no  unreasonable  request  when 
he  asked  to  be  allowed  as  much  as  he  had  brought  to 
France ;  that,  he  said,  would  enable  him  to  live  with 
comfort.  "For  the  company,"  he  wrote,  "I  have 
sacrificed  everything,  my  property,  my  credit,  and  the 
welfare  of  my  children.  ...  I  have  served  it  with  a 

1  S.  Simon,  xvi.  436.  St.  Simon's  accusations  of  his  enemies 
must  be  received  with  caution,  but  no  one  could  exaggerate  the 
greed  and  the  despicable  character  of  the  Prince  of  Conti. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  613 

disinterestedness  which  is  shown  by  few."  ^  He  re^ 
ceived  nothing. 

So  long  as  the  Duke  of  Orleans  lived,  Law  enter- 
tained the  hope  that  he  might  return  to  France,  and 
again  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  state.  Taught 
by  past  experience,  he  might  well  have  been  a  useful 
minister,  and  Orleans  was  not  unwilling  to  recall 
him.  2  But  the  name  of  Law  was  so  hateful  to  the 
community  that  he  hesitated  to  make  the  experiment. 
A  modest  pension  was,  however,  paid  to  the  fallen 
financier  during  the  regent's  lifetime. 

With  the  death  of  Orleans,  Law's  hope  of  a  return 
to  favor  vanished.  He  no  longer  received  his  pension  ; 
his  repeated  requests  that  something  should  be  allowed 
him  from  his  estates  were  disregarded.  He  was  again 
compelled  to  earn  his  livelihood  at  the  card  table,  but 
the  fortune  of  his  earlier  years  had  deserted  him.  In 
1729,  Law  died  at  Venice,  poor  and  broken-hearted. 
Montesquieu  visited  him  the  year  before  his  death. 
"  He  was  still  the  same  man,"  he  writes,  "  with  small 
means,  but  playing  high  and  boldly,  his  mind  occupied 
with  projects,  his  head  filled  with  calculations." 

The  task  remained  of  liquidating  the  indebtedness 
of  the  system.  The  bills  of  the  bank  were  guaranteed 
by  the  king ;  the  Company  of  the  Lidies  had  been  so 
nnder  the  control  of  the  government  that  it  could  not 
be  turned  adrift  as  merely  a  private  corporation.    The 

1  Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  August,  1724. 

2  See  Law's  letter  to  Bourbon,  and  Memoires  justijicatifs.  The 
Venetian  minister  wrote  in  September,  1723,  that  Law's  return 
was  regarded  as  very  probable,  but  by  the  people  it  would  be 
even  more  abhorred  than  new  taxes.  —  MS.  Bib.  Nat.,  filza  212, 
165.  The  price  of  shares  of  the  Company  of  the  Indies  advanced 
rapidly  when  it  was  said  that  Law  was  to  return  to  France,  and 
fell  again  when  this  was  contradicted.  —  Ih.  195. 


514         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

measures  adopted  were  severe  and  unjust.  Fortunes 
had  been  made  by  speculation,  but  this  was  no  crime. 
The  profits  of  operations  allowed  by  law  should  not 
have  been  dealt  with  more  rigorously  than  the  gains 
which  the  prodigality  of  the  regent  had  allowed  to 
persons  of  rank  and  influence.  Such,  however,  was 
the  view  adopted. 

All  persons  holding  any  shares  or  bills  were  required 
to  deposit  them,  with  a  statement  of  the  manner  in 
which  they  were  acquired.  Many  had  invested  their 
profits  in  land  and  other  property,  and  the  notaries 
of  France  were  ordered  to  furnish  the  record  of  all 
transactions  during  the  last  two  years.  The  task  was 
a  Herculean  one  ;  it  was  performed  with  energy,  if 
not  always  with  justice.  "  Those  who  have  lost  are  al- 
ready ruined,"  the  people  complained,  ''  and  now  they 
wish  to  ruin  those  who  gained."  ^  Eight  hundred  em- 
ployees labored  for  months  in  preparing  the  lists ;  the 
rooms  once  occupied  by  the  bank  were  now  filled  with 
clerks  making  up  the  final  accounts  of  the  great  specu- 
lation. Five  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  persons 
deposited  bills  and  shares,  from  millions  in  nominal 
value  down  to  a  single  share  or  a  ten-franc  note.  In 
all,  bills  and  contracts  to  the  amount  of  over  2,200,- 
000,000  livres  were  deposited,  and  125,000  shares  of 
tlie  Company  of  the  Indies.  All  that  were  not  pre- 
sented within  the  prescribed  term  were  declared  to  be 
null  and  void. 

These  amounts  were  then  reduced  in  various  propor- 
tions. Those  whose  possessions  were  thought  to  be 
most  meritorious  suffered  least.  The  former  owners 
of  rentes  were  protected ;  fortunate  speculators  were 
severely  mulcted.  The  amount  of  bills  outstanding 
1  Journal  de  Barbier,  i.  202. 


THE  FAILURE   OF  THE  SYSTEM.  515 

was  thus  reduced  to  1,700,000,000,  and  for  this  sum 
the  holders  received  either  rentes  at  two  and  one  half 
per  cent,  or  annuities  at  four  per  cent.  Securities  at 
so  low  a  rate  of  interest  were  little  desired,  but  there 
was  no  alternative.  The  interest  on  the  government 
debt  was  less  than  it  had  been  before  the  operations  of 
Law,  but  this  result  was  obtained  by  a  partial  repudi- 
ation of  the  liabilities  of  the  state.  When  the  accounts 
were  finished,  the  mass  of  papers,  bills,  shares,  and  all 
the  records  of  the  investigation  were  put  in  a  great 
iron  chest  and  burned.  Days  were  occupied  in  the 
consumption  of  the  enormous  debris  that  remained. 
Fire  purifies  everything,  it  was  said,  and  the  system 
of  Law  passed  away  in  smoke.^ 

The  Mississippi  millionaires  were  not  allowed  to  es- 
cape with  the  partial  confiscation  of  such  property  as 
they  had  presented  before  the  Visa.  Estimates  were 
made  of  their  wealth,  and  enormous  fines  were  levied 
upon  them.  The  widow  Chaumont  led  the  list  with 
a  penalty  of  8,000,000.  The  total  amount  of  these 
fines  was  187,000,000.  Nothing  in  principle  distin- 
guished them  from  the  forced  loans  levied  on  Jews  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  or  on  wealthy  citizens  in  the  domin- 
ions of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  This  wealth  had  not 
been  gained  by  any  corrupt  dealings  with  the  state. 
The  crime  consisted  in  the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of 
money  had  been  made  by  people  of  small  account. 
The  government  declared  that  those  must  be  punished 
who,  two  years  before,  had  been  poor,  and  now  pos- 
sessed riches  above  their  condition.^  The  profits  made 
from  the  system  by  the  nobility  were  as  large  as  those 
of  the  speculators,  but  the  name  of  no  person  of  rank 

^  Journal  de  Marais^  ii.  363. 
2  Arret  of  July  29,  1721. 


516  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

appears  among  those  who  were  fined  for  their  good 
fortune.  The  exemption  of  nobles  from  taxation  was 
extended  to  their  gains  from  Law's  system. 

Some  of  the  assessments  were  paid ;  some  of  those 
liable  had  fled  with  their  property  to  other  countries ; 
some  escaped  through  the  influence  of  friends  and 
patrons.  The  Duke  of  Bourbon  declared  that  the  pro- 
ceedings would  be  a  farce  unless  Orleans  agreed  to 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  applications  for  grace.  The  regent 
bound  himself  to  grant  no  favor,  but  the  promise  was 
not  fully  kept.  From  the  beginning,  the  Parisians 
had  prophesied  that  the  proceedings  against  the  spec- 
ulators would  be  quite  as  profitable  to  the  regent's 
mistresses  as  to  the  state.^ 

It  still  remained  to  settle  the  fate  of  the  Company 
of  the  Indies,  the  institution  on  which  Law  had  based 
his  fondest  hopes.  The  125,000  shares  were  reduced 
to  56,000  by  the  same  process  adopted  in  reference  to 
the  bills  of  the  bank.  The  privilege  of  coinage  and 
the  farm  of  the  taxes  were  taken  from  the  company. 
The  monopoly  of  tobacco  was  not  disturbed,  but  with 
that  exception  it  remained  simply  a  trading  corpora- 
tion. As  such  it  carried  on  business  for  many  years, 
and  at  times  with  a  certain  degree  of  prosperity.  Its 
shares  once  sold  as  high  as  3,000  livres.  For  a  long 
period  the  profits  were  sufficient  to  pay  moderate  divi- 
dends. The  decline  of  the  colonial  empire  of  France 
during  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  involved  the  company 
in  the  common  ruin  ;  in  1769,  it  ceased  to  exist.  The 
inertness  of  the  king,  the  follies  of  Mme.  de  Pompa- 
dour, and  the  inefficiency  of  the  ministers  destroyed  the 
institution  by  which  Law  had  hoped  to  make  France 
the  greatest  colonial  power  of  Europe,  to  build  up  a 
^  See  Marais,  September,  1722,  and  Buvat. 


THE  FAILURE    OF   THE   SYSTEM.  517 

commerce  which  should  exceed  that  of  England  and 
HoUand.i 

The  immediate  results  of  Law's  system  were  disas- 
trous, and  the  errors  which  produced  its  overthrow 
can  be  easily  seen.  Still,  its  originator  might  justly 
claim  that  he  had  done  much  for  the  development 
of  his  adopted  country.  The  principle  of  credit,  the 
courage  for  large  enterprises,  remained  as  his  work. 
Fortunes  were  lost  and  honest  men  beggared,  but  a 
new  impetus  was  given  to  commerce.^  In  considering 
the  industrial  development  of  France  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  some  credit  should  be  given  to  the  influence 
of  the  teachings  of  Law.  The  evils  produced  by  an 
inflated  and  insecure  currency  showed  dangers  to  be 
avoided ;  but  wherein  he  had  anticipated  the  larger 
activity  of  modern  times,  he  helped  to  rouse  France 
from  the  antiquated  methods  of  the  past.  He  advo- 
cated better  roads,  greater  freedom  from  commercial 
restraints,  and  improved  systems  of  taxation.  In  all 
these  respects,  vast  changes  were  effected  before  the 
close  of  the  century. 

The  system  produced  social  as  well  as  economical 
results.  Royalty  lost  something  of  its  sanctity  from 
its  connection  with  banks  and  trading  companies. 
Such  a  relation  was  inconsistent  with  the  majesty  of 

1  The  details  of  the  Visa  can  be  found  in  Histoire  du  Vistty  by 
Duhautchamp,  in  four  volumes  ;  Registres  du  conseil  d^etat ;  in 
Memoir es  de  St.  Simon  ;  and  in  the  journals  of  Barbier,  Marais, 
and  Buvat. 

2  The  commercial  marine  of  France,  in  1738,  was  stated  to  be 
six  times  larger  than  in  1716.  Even  if  this  was  an  overestimate, 
it  was  certainly  three  or  four  times  larger.  In  December,  1721, 
Barbier  says  that,  although  many  had  been  ruined  by  the  system, 
yet  the  country  had  never  been  so  rich  and  flourishing  as  it  then 
was.  —  Journal,  i.  337. 


518         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

the  throne  as  it  had  been  personified  by  Louis  XIV. 
Moreover,  the  king  was  not  an  honest  banker.  The 
bills  of  the  royal  bank  were  reduced  and  repudiated. 
Such  things  impair  the  divinity  that  doth  hedge  a 
king. 

Nor  did  the  nobility  fare  better.  Their  greed  to 
share  in  the  profits  of  Law's  enterprises  was  uncon- 
cealed. The  enormous  profits  of  Bourbon,  Conti, 
An  tin,  and  others  of  the  highest  rank  were  notorious. 
A  feudal  nobleman,  living  on  his  ancient  estates,  rul- 
ing his  tenantry,  despising  trade  and  the  vulgar  in- 
terests of  plebeians,  might  command  respect,  but  a 
duke  dabbling  in  shares  on  the  Rue  Quincampoix  put 
himself  on  the  same  level  with  the  widow  Chaumont, 
or  Andre  the  Mississippian.  The  Duke  of  La  Force 
was  tried  before  Parliament  on  the  charge  that  he 
had  invested  his  gains,  under  fictitious  names,  in  an 
unlawful  monopoly  of  groceries.  He  was  solemnly 
censured  for  having  forgotten  the  example  of  his  an- 
cestors, and  dealt  in  soap  and  tallow  in  a  manner  unbe- 
fitting the  dignity  of  a  peer  of  France.^  "  Never  has 
the  nobility  of  France  seemed  less  heroic  than  now," 
wrote  a  contemporary. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  fortunes  realized  from  the 
system  showed  the  opportunities  which  an  enlarged 
commerce  could  furnish  for  all.  The  Revolution  was 
said  to  have  opened  the  field  for  talent.  When  every 
private  felt  that  he  might  carry  a  marshal's  baton  in 
his  knapsack,  the  army  produced  hundreds  of  gen- 
erals who  helped  to  win  for  France  the  battles  of  the 

^  The  details  of  this  trial,  which  created  an  enormous  excite- 
ment, can  be  found  in  the  journals  of  Barbier,  Marais,  and 
Buvat,  as  well  as  in  the  Registres  du  Parlement ;  also  in  Mem. 
de  Villars. 


THE  FAILURE   OF   THE  SYSTEM.  519 

Revolution  and  of  the  Napoleonic  wars.  When  there 
is  an  opening  for  talent  in  business,  as  well  as  in  war, 
results  are  accomplished  that  before  seemed  impossi- 
ble. The  system  of  Law  did  not  leave  France  as  she 
had  been.  Notwithstanding  all  the  harm  it  did,  and 
all  the  misery  it  caused,  it  must  be  reckoned  among 
the  influences  which  made  France  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  so  far  removed  from  France  at  its 
beginning.^ 

^  The  authorities  on  the  system  of  Law  and  his  financial  ca- 
reer are  numerous.  The  Registres  du  Parlement  and  Registres 
du  Conseil  de  V  Etat  contain  much  of  the  official  history,  includ- 
ing the  interminable  disputes  with  the  Parliament.  For  Law's 
theories  the  best  authority,  naturally,  is  to  be  found  in  his  writ- 
ings. His  views,  as  there  expressed,  cannot  always  be  reconciled 
with  each  other,  but  the  course  of  events  either  changed  many 
of  his  beliefs,  or  compelled  him  to  advocate  what  he  did  not  be- 
lieve. The  book  of  his  employee  and  disciple,  Dutot,  is  valua- 
ble, and  is  trustworthy  as  to  Law's  views  and  the  history  of  the 
system,  however  erroneous  its  political  economy  may  be.  The 
history  of  the  speculation,  and  of  the  various  incidents  connected 
with  Law's  career  in  Paris,  can  be  found  in  the  journals  of  Bar- 
bier  and  Marais,  the  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  the  memoirs  of 
St.  Simon  and  Villars,  the  MS.  letters  of  Noailles,  and  in  the 
correspondence  of  the  Venetian  and  English  ambassadors  at 
Paris.  Many  interesting  relations  and  pamphlets  throw  light 
upon  the  condition  of  Louisiana.  Some  of  them  are  accounts 
by  travelers  and  officers  which  are  entitled  to  credit  ;  the  re- 
ports which  are  not  true,  but  which  found  credence  at  Paris,  are 
equally  curious.  There  are  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  a  great 
number  of  contemporary  pamphlets  and  documents  of  every  kind 
in  reference  to  this  period.  The  Histoire  du  Systeme  and  Histoire 
du  Visa  contain  most  of  the  edicts  and  arrets  in  reference  to  the 
bank  and  the  company.  The  portion  of  Forbonnais's  Recherches 
sur  les  Finances  which  treats  of  Law  is  as  valuable  as  the  rest 
of  the  work.  The  number  of  books  written  about  Law  and  his 
system  is  large.  By  far  the  most  valuable  is  by  Levasseur,  Re- 
cherches historiques  sur  le  systeme  de  Law* 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  MINISTRY   OF   DUBOIS. 
1717-1721. 

In  the  excitement  of  the  Mississippi  speculation, 
political  changes  attracted  less  attention.  People 
were  too  busy  operating  in  shares  to  be  disturbed  by 
the  intrigues  of  Dubois,  or  by  wrangles  over  Jansen- 
ism. The  foreign  policy  of  the  regent  had  secured 
tranquillity  for  France  and  for  Europe ;  neither  wars 
nor  rumors  of  wars  disquieted  the  community.  The 
internal  administration  of  the  regency,  however,  was 
altered  in  some  important  respects.  Where  modifi- 
cations had  been  attempted  on  the  former  system, 
these  were  to  a  large  extent  abandoned ;  the  internal 
policy  of  the  close  of  this  era  did  not  differ  largely 
from  that  in  force  when  Louis  XIV.  died. 

The  succe33f ul  formation  of  the  Triple  Alliance  made 
Dubois  the  most  prominent  man  among  the  regent's 
advisers,  and  with  unremitting  industry  he  strength- 
ened the  influence  which  he  had  thus  gained.  In  less 
than  five  years  after  he  had  started  for  the  Hague,  an 
obscure  abbe  disguised  as  an  itinerant  book-buyer,  he 
was  made  an  archbishop,  a  cardinal,  and  prime  min- 
ister of  France.  His  advice  was  constantly  more 
heeded  by  the  regent,  whose  weariness  of  the  affairs 
of  state  increased  as  he  sank  deeper  in  a  career  of 
sensuality.     For  the  judicious  measures  of  this  period 


THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS.  521 

Dubois  is  entitled  to  most  of  the  credit,  and  for  the 
unwise  measures  he  deserves  most  of  the  blame. 

The  experiment  of  the  councils  organized  by  the 
regent  had  been  tried  for  three  years,  and  had  proved 
a  failure.  They  had  shown  neither  energy  nor  judg- 
ment in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  committed 
to  their  charge ;  they  had  been  equally  ineffective  in 
restoring  to  the  aristocracy  the  influence  in  the  state 
which  they  desired.  Such  a  change  could  not  be  ac- 
complished by  making  places  for  men  of  rank  to  fill, 
but  by  making  men  of  rank  fit  to  fill  the  places.  The 
attempted  reform  began  at  the  wrong  end.  In  1717, 
Dubois  entered  the  council  for  foreign  affairs.  "  He 
wished  to  work  his  way  into  it,"  says  the  historian  of 
the  aristocracy,  "  like  the  plants  which  grow  into  walls 
and  at  last  overthrow  them."  ^  The  comparison  was 
a  just  one.  Dubois  was  a  vigorous  plant,  penetrating 
the  crevices  of  a  very  dilapidated  wall.  In  1718,  all 
the  councils  save  that  of  the  regency  were  abolished. 
They  had  so  lost  their  influence  that  their  overthrow 
attracted  no  attention.  Their  functions  again  de- 
volved upon  secretaries  of  state,  as  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV.,  and  Dubois,  the  secretary  for  foreign 
affairs,  controlled  the  relations  of  France  with  the 
other  powers  of  Europe. 

The  tendencies  of  an  absolute  monarchy  soon 
brought  the  government  in  conflict  with  a  body  whose 
ambition  Orleans  had  flattered  before  his  own  power 
had  been  established.  At  the  session  of  the  Parlia- 
ment in  which  the  provisions  of  Louis  XIV.'s  will 
were  set  aside,  Orleans  had  declared  that  he  would 
restore  to  that  body  its  ancient  privilege  of  remon- 
strance before  the  registration  of  an  edict.  This  was 
1  St.  Simon,  xiii.  277.  . 


622  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

alike  an  important  and  an  unimportant  right.  It 
was  admitted  that  the  sovereign,  in  the  exercise  of  his 
prerogative,  could  summon  the  Parliament  into  his 
presence,  and,  in  a  bed  of  justice,  compel  the  imme- 
diate registration  of  his  decrees.  On  the  other  hand, 
remonstrances  addressed  by  an  ancient  and  august 
body  of  magistrates  would  often  have  a  great  influ- 
ence on  the  community,  and  they  might  operate  as  a 
restraint  on  the  sovereign.  The  king  of  France  was 
an  absolute  monarch,  but  he  was  not  a  Turkish  Sul- 
tan ;  he  could  not  disregard,  with  wanton  indiffer- 
ence, the  sentiments  of  the  people  he  governed.  When 
distress  prevailed,  when  wars  were  unsuccessful,  when 
the  person  of  the  king  excited  no  respect,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Parliament,  as  the  recognized  institution 
for  the  expression  of  popular  discontent,  necessarily 
increased.  It  had  been  a  great  power  in  the  state 
when  Louis  XIV.  was  an  infant  and  Mazarin  was 
unpopular ;  it  possessed  no  power  in  the  state  when 
Louis  XIV.  had  grown  to  be  a  man,  when  he  was 
both  beloved  and  feared.  That  monarch  had  so  cur- 
tailed the  right  of  remonstrance  that  it  was  practically 
abrogated.  He  did  this,  not  from  any  fear  of  the  check 
which  the  Parliament  could  exercise  upon  his  author- 
ity, but  because  it  shocked  his  instincts  that  the  policy 
of  a  king  should  be  criticised  by  a  body  of  lawyers. 

Orleans  had  won  the  hearts  of  the  magistrates  when 
he  assured  them  that  he  desired  the  counsels  of  their 
wisdom  to  guide  his  steps  as  a  ruler,  but  this  auspi- 
cious harmony  was  of  short  duration.  The  liberal 
tendencies  of  the  regent  were  considerably  modified 
when  the  control  of  the  state  was  in  his  own  hands. 
His  advisers  were  imbued  with  the  theories  of  the 
uncontrolled  power  of  the  sovereign   which  prevailed 


THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS,  523 

in  France.  Dubois  was  a  sagacious  man,  but  he  ac- 
cepted the  political  beliefs  of  his  era,  and  he  was  not 
a  believer  in  the  utility  of  popular  government.  He 
warned  the  regent  against  associating  his  subjects  in 
the  government  of  the  state,  against  establishing  in 
France  the  systems  of  England.  "  Let  your  wisdom 
avert  from  France  the  dangerous  project  of  making 
of  the  French  a  free  people,"  he  wrote  Orleans,  when 
dissuading  him  from  summoning  the  States  General. 
To  allow  political  influence  to  a  body  of  lawyers  was  as 
distasteful  as  to  ask  the  counsel  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  and  there  was  less  to  be  said  in  its  favor. 

When  the  Parliament  was  seeking  opportunities  to 
increase  its  influence,  and  the  government  was  jealous 
of  any  interference  with  its  projects,  a  collision  could 
not  long  be  averted.  The  crisis  was  reached  when 
the  development  of  Law's  schemes  began  to  absorb 
the  attention  of  the  community.  The  French  Parlia- 
ment was  sure  to  oppose  the  enterprises  of  Law,  be- 
cause all  new  measures  were  distasteful  to  it.  The 
conservatism  often  found  among  lawyers  was  exagger- 
ated in  these  courts ;  the  hostility  to  innovations,  which 
was  strong  among  the  French  people,  was  strongest 
among  jurists  who  cherished  hereditary  traditions, 
who  enjoyed  assured  positions,  and  who  desired  the 
world  to  remain  as  it  was.  Those  who  oppose  all 
changes  are  often  right,  but  it  is  not  thus  that  govern- 
ments can  be  carried  on  or  civilization  progress. 

In  August,  1717,  edicts  were  presented  for  registra- 
tion, organizing  the  Company  of  the  West,  and  regu- 
lating various  financial  measures.  In  order  to  form  a 
more  correct  judgment  of  their  utility,  the  Parliament 
demanded  of  the  regent  a  statement  of  the  financial 
affairs   of  the  kingdom.     Nothing  would  have  been 


524         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

regarded  as  more  revolutionary.  Mystery  enveloped 
the  treasury  ;  to  render  an  account  of  its  condition 
was  contrary  to  every  maxim  of  statecraft,  and  was 
degrading  to  the  authority  of  the  sovereign.  The  de- 
mand met  with  a  chilling  refusal.  The  judges  were 
stimulated,  rather  than  discouraged  by  this  rebuff.  An 
edict  altering  the  value  of  the  coin  was  not  sent  to 
them  for  registration,  upon  the  claim  that  purely 
financial  measures  were  without  their  jurisdiction. 
Thereupon  the  courts  forbade  notaries  to  allow  the 
new  coin  to  be  received  in  payment  of  obligations. 
This  was  plainly  a  legislative  act,  and  the  Parliament 
of  Paris  had  no  more  authority  to  enforce  it  than  the 
College  of  the  Sor bonne.  Their  mandate  to  the  nota- 
ries was  annulled  by  the  council  of  state  as  contrary 
to  the  authority  of  the  king ;  soldiers  seized  the  print- 
ing-presses, and  destroyed  the  copies  of  so  revolution- 
ary a  resolution. 

The  conflict  over  the  financial  measures  of  the 
government  continued.  On  the  12th  of  August,  the 
Parliament  adopted  a  resolution  which  forbade  the  de- 
posit of  the  moneys  of  the  state  with  Law's  bank,  and 
threatened  the  penalties  of  the  law  upon  any  foreigner 
who  took  part  in  the  administration  of  the  royal 
finances.  This  was  again  an  attempt  to  exercise  leg- 
islative functions,  but,  like  so  many  similar  attempts, 
it  resulted  in  nothing.  The  courts  were  forthwith 
summoned  to  a  bed  of  justice  held  at  the  Tuileries  in 
the  presence  of  the  infant  king.  Thither  the  judges 
marched,  trailing  their  majestic  robes.  The  guard  of 
the  seals  read  an  edict  curtailing  the  privileges  of  the 
Parliament ;  the  courts  were  forbidden  to  interfere  in 
any  questions  of  finance ;  after  a  delay  of  eight  days 
an  edict  would  be  regarded  as  registered,  no  matter 


THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS,  525 

what  opposition  tlie  judges  might  make.  This  decree 
was  forthwith  registered  in  silence.  No  voice  of  remon- 
strance could  be  raised  in  a  bed  of  justice  ;  whether  it 
was  held  by  Louis  XIV.  at  the  summit  of  his  power, 
or  by  Louis  XV.  in  his  nurse's  arms,  all  resistance  to 
the  monarch's  will  ceased  in  the  monarch's  presence. 

The  prerogatives  claimed  by  the  aristocracy  of  the 
robe  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  aristocracy  of  the  sword. 
St.  Simon  has  told  us  of  the  delight  with  which  he 
watched  this  bed  of  justice,  where  "those  fierce  legists, 
those  proud  bourgeois,"  had  to  kneel  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne  and  receive  the  commands  of  their  sover- 
eign, while  the  peers  of  France,  seated  by  the  side  of 
the  monarch,  watched  the  humiliation  of  their  rivals. 

This  act  of  vigor  on  the  part  of  the  regent  was 
followed  by  the  arrest  of  a  number  of  those  who  had 
been  most  insubordinate.  The  cause  of  the  Parlia- 
ment was  popular  in  Paris,  but  there  was  no  danger 
of  resistance  to  the  government.  "  Every  one  says  that 
he  wants  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  courts,"  writes  an 
advocate,  "  but  no  one  dares  to  begin."  ^  Nothing  was 
more  useless  than  this  formality  of  registration,  says 
the  same  writer :  the  Parliament  was  a  respectable  body, 
but  incapable  of  taking  any  part  in  the  affairs  of  the 
state  ;  the  older  members  were  learned  in  the  law,  but 
wedded  to  the  modes  of  thought  of  their  youth ;  they 
had  not  followed  the  changes  of  government,  or  the 
fluctuations  of  politics  ;  many  of  the  members  were 
young,  rich,  and  ignorant,  and  were  incapable  of  either 
forming  or  expressing  an  opinion.^  The  judges  now 
abandoned  attempts  at  legislation,  and  occupied  them- 
selves with  soliciting  the  return  of  their  comrades  ; 
months  passed  away  before  even  that  was  accorded. 
1  Journal  de  BarhieVy  1718.  2  n^^  September,  1720. 


526         FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY. 

After  this  defeat,  the  courts  watched  with  tranquil- 
lity the  progress  of  Law's  system.  In  1720,  when 
the  system  began  to  totter,  and  popular  discontent 
was  excited  by  the  reverses  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
Parliament  again  roused  to  activity,  and  refused  its 
approval  to  edicts  which  were  presented.  It  was 
treated  with  little  consideration.  The  entire  body  was 
forthwith  exiled  to  Pontoise,  and  there  the  members 
remained  for  six  months.  The  hall  of  their  delibera- 
tions at  Paris  was  put  in  charge  of  soldiers,  who 
amused  themselves  with  the  solemn  trial  of  a  cat; 
after  eloquent  pleading,  the  animal  was  condemned  to 
death  for  high  crimes  against  the  state.  The  judges 
did  not  conduct  themselves  with  much  more  dignity 
during  their  exile  at  Pontoise.  It  was  a  season  of 
riotous  living ;  magnificent  dinners  were  given,  play 
was  high,  the  consumption  of  wine  was  liberal.  Per- 
haps with  the  object  of  making  the  condition  of  the 
exiles  appear  less  heroic,  the  regent  furnished  the 
first  president  with  large  amounts  of  money,  which 
he  spent  in  prodigal  entertainments.  In  December,  a 
reconciliation  was  effected.  Law's  overthrow  had  been 
accomplished;  an  agreement  was  reached,  by  which 
the  Parliament  consented  to  register  the  bull  Unigeni- 
tus,  and  the  judges  returned  to  their  duties  at  Paris. 
But  such  contests  were  perennial.  The  laws  of  France 
derived  their  validity  from  the  will  of  the  sovereign 
alone :  registration  with  the  courts  in  no  way  added 
to  their  force ;  it  was  merely  the  promulgation  of  the 
royal  decree.  Yet  a  body  which  was  representative 
in  its  nature,  and  which  possessed  any  measure  of 
legislative  authority,  might  have  developed  a  right 
from  what  had  originally  been  a  form.  But  there 
could  be  no  development  of  legislative  authority  in  a 


_  THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS.  527 

court  whose  members  obtained  their  places  by  paying 
for  them.  The  body  was  not  adapted  for  such  func- 
tions ;  the  members  represented  only  themselves.  The 
king  and  the  Parliaments  disputed  for  centuries  over 
the  question  of  registration ;  the  courts  were  no  further 
advanced  under  Louis  X VI.  than  they  had  been  under 
the  Valois  kings.  The  efPorts  to  make  legislators  of 
the  judges  were  as  unprofitable  to  France  as  the  efforts 
to  make  administrators  of  the  nobility.  The  judicial 
record  of  the  French  Parliaments  was  creditable,  but 
politically  they  were  failures.  Kings  and  courts  con- 
tinued to  wrangle  until  the  Revolution  swept  away 
both  monarchy  and  Parliament.^ 

The  political  relations  of  Europe  were  changing  by 
the  growth  of  new  powers,  as  well  as  by  the  decline  of 
those  which  had  once  been  great.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  Russia  and  Prussia  began  to  exert  an  influ- 
ence in  Europe,  which  has  since  continued  to  increase. 
Russian  ambassadors  of  very  questionable  character 
had  presented  themselves  at  the  court  of  Louis  XIV. 
in  1685,  but  the  nation  from  which  they  came  was 
then  regarded  as  hardly  more  a  part  of  the  system  of 
Europe  than  was  the  kingdom  of  Siam.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  either  power  were  viewed  with  the  same 
curiosity,  and  the  same  unconcern.  Since  then  the 
genius  of  Peter  the  Great  had  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  world  to  Russia,  and  he  desired  to  emphasize 
the  changed  position  of  the  empire  which  he  ruled  by 
forming  alliances  with  the  Western  states. 

1  The  authorities  for  the  contest  between  the  regent  and  the 
Parliament  of  Paris  are  found  in  Registres  du  conseil  secret ; 
Journal  de  Barbier,  de  Marais,  de  la  Regence ;  Memoires  de  St. 
Simon ;  Recherches  historiques  sur  le  Systeme  de  Law,  by  Levas- 
seur. 


528         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

In  1716,  he  visited  Holland,  and  the  possibility  of 
a  combination  between  the  Czar  and  the  regent  so 
alarmed  George  I.  that  he  hastened  to  ally  himself 
with  France.  In  May,  1717,  the  Czar  came  to  Paris, 
and  there  remained  six  weeks.  The  appearance  of  the 
Russian  despot  excited  the  same  curiosity  among  the 
French  that  the  products  of  a  luxurious  civilization 
aroused  in  him.  No  one  could  fail  to  discover  the 
signs  of  a  powerful  intellect  in  the  strongly  marked 
features  of  Peter  the  Great ;  as  little  could  one  fail 
to  recognize  the  barbarian  in  his  dress  and  his  man- 
ners. The  lack  of  powder  on  his  hair  and  of  gloves 
upon  his  hands  might  be  excused,  but  neither  gold 
buttons  nor  diamonds  atoned  for  soiled  clothes  and  an 
aversion  to  baths.  The  enormous  amounts  which  he 
ate  and  drank  excited  the  wonder  of  his  entertainers. 
Unfortunately  his  capacity  did  not  equal  his  appetite, 
and  the  great  monarch  was  often  very  vilely  drunk. 
His  attendants  rivaled  him  in  his  orgies.  Sixteen  pints 
of  wine  his  almoner  consumed  each  day,  and  this  al- 
lowance he  doubled  on  great  occasions.^  St.  Simon 
tells  of  the  horror  with  which  the  governor  of  Ver- 
sailles saw  the  crapulous  court  of  Peter  there  estab- 
lished, and  desecrating  with  drinking  bouts  and  pros- 
titutes the  apartments  dedicated  to  virtue  by  Mme.  de 
Maintenon.^  Peter  excited  equal  consternation,  with 
less  cause,  by  his  disregard  of  the  decorum  which 
surrounded  monarchs.  The  spectacle  of  the  Czar  of 
Russia  driving  through  the  streets  of  Paris  in  a  public 
fiacre  seemed  revolutionary  to  a  people  accustomed 
to  the  stately  etiquette  of  Louis  XIV.  In  another  re- 
spect his  conduct  was  deemed  unworthy  of  royalty ; 

1  Louville  to  St.  Aignan,  June  17,  1717. 

2  St.  Simon,  xiv.  29. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS.  529 

he  displayed  no  princely  prodigality  in  bis  expenditure 
of  money.  The  workmen  at  the  Gobelins  complained 
that  he  examined  the  products  of  tbeir  skill,  and  left 
them  only  a  crown  to  drink  his  health  ;  the  employees 
at  the  royal  library  showed  its  treasures  to  the  visitor, 
but  they  received  no  pourboires  ;  the  merchants  said 
that  the  Czar  cheapened  their  wares,  and  got  better 
bargains  than  the  wife  of  a  bourgeois.^  Parsimony  is 
not,  however,  a  serious  vice  in  one  whose  liberalities 
have  to  be  paid  for  by  his  subjects. 

The  Czar  had  not  come  to  Paris  simply  to  gratify 
his  curiosity,  or  to  indulge  in  debauchery.  He  wished 
to  make  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  France,  and  to  obtain 
the  subsidies  which  that  country  had  long  paid  to 
Sweden.  Sweden,  he  said,  was  decaying  in  power, 
Russia  was  increasing ;  an  alliance  with  Sweden  might 
have  been  judicious  in  1648,  but  it  did  not  follow  that 
it  was  good  policy  in  1717 :  then  that  country  was 
powerful,  as  a  result  of  the  genius  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus ;  now  it  was  weak,  as  a  result  of  the  folly  of 
Charles  XII. ;  it  was  the  true  policy  of  France  to  ally 
herself  in  the  north  with  the  power  which  was  destined 
there  to  exert  the  greatest  influence.^  These  views 
were  entitled  to  consideration,  but  Dubois  was  firmly 
bound  to  the  English  alliance,  and  England  already 
looked  with  suspicion  upon  the  increasing  strength  of 
Russia.     Peter   was    unable   to   realize   his    desires.^ 

^  For  these  complaints,  see  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii. 
736,  745,  etc.  The  writer  speaks  feelingly,  for  he  hoped  for 
a  douceur,  but  did  not  receive  it. 

2  See  Memoire  de  Tesse  a  Huxelles,  May  19,  1717. 

3  Instructions  pour  M.  le  Marechal  de  Tesse.  How  unknown 
Russia  then  was  to  the  rest  of  Europe  appears  from  this  paper. 
The  minister  says  that  he  cannot  speak  intelligently  in  reference 
to  a  treaty  of  commerce,  because  he  does  not  know  what  French 


530  FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY. 

A  treaty  of  small  importance  was  subsequently  signed 
between  France  and  Russia  and  Prussia.  Formal 
diplomatic  relations  with  Russia  were  commenced,  and 
she  was  thus  received  into  the  community  of  civilized 
nations.  Though  Peter  did  not  accomplish  all  that 
he  desired,  he  was  pleased  with  what  France  had  to 
show,  and  with  the  reception  which  he  received.  He 
prophesied,  however,  the  speedy  decadence  of  a  people 
so  given  to  immoderate  luxury.  The  prophecy  has  not 
been  fulfilled,  but  such  a  result  might  well  seem  prob- 
able to  one  who  contrasted  the  condition  of  his  own 
capital  on  the  banks  of  the  Neva  with  that  of  the 
luxurious  and  pleasure-loving  capital  on  the  banks  of 
the  Seine.^ 

The  Sultan  of  Turkey  followed  the  example  of  his 
northern  neighbor  in  an  endeavor  to  establish  more 
intimate  relations  with  France.  In  1720,  an  ambas- 
sador from  the  Porte  was  sent  to  the  court  of  Louis 
XV.  It  was  an  innovation  in  the  diplomacy  of  Con- 
stantinople, for  the  dignity  of  the  Sultan  was  thought 
to  be  preserved  by  refusing  to  send  representatives  to 
the  infidels  of  the  West.  But  Mehemet  Effendi  now 
came  to  present  the  compliments  of  his  master  to  the 
king  of  the  Franks.  He  has  related  the  history  of 
his  voyage,  and  described  the  impression  produced 
upon  him  by  the  sights  of  Western  civilization.^  If 
all  that  he  saw  excited  his  wonder,  he  was  a  subject 

vessels  could  bring  from  Russia,  and  is  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
customs  duties,  or  the  regulations  as  to  foreign  ships  which  exist 
in  that  country. 

^  Accounts  of  the  voyage  of  Peter  the  Great  in  France  can 
be  found  in  the  journals  and  memoirs  of  St.  Simon,  Dangeau, 
Tessd,  De  la  Regence,  etc. 

2  Relation  de  VAmhassade  de  Mehemet  Effendi,  published  in 
Turkish  and  translated  into  French. 


THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS.  531 

of  equal  curiosity  to  those  whom  he  visited.  The  ac- 
counts of  his  reception  sound  like  the  tales  of  trav- 
elers, who  now  traverse  the  remote  portions  of  Central 
Africa  where  a  white  man  has  never  been  seen.  As 
he  ascended  the  canal  to  Toulouse,  such  crowds  pressed 
around  the  banks  to  look  at  him  that  several  were 
forced  into  the  water  and  drowned.  At  every  town 
where  he  stopped  he  was  equally  thronged.  Women 
were  suffocated  in  the  press,  but  such  dangers  did  not 
check  them.  By  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing the  courts  of  the  hotels  were  filled  with  people, 
who  waited  in  the  rain  and  cold  for  his  appearance. 
"I  was  amazed  at  so  great  curiosity,"  remarks  the 
placid  Oriental.^  He  was  no  less  a  marvel  at  Paris 
than  in  the  provinces.  Neither  a  Turk  nor  a  Turkish 
dress  had  been  seen  there.  His  house  was  filled  with 
crowds  anxious  to  see  all  that  he  did,  and  especially 
anxious  to  see  him  eat ;  they  stood  around  tlie  table 
and  watched  each  morsel  he  took.  "  These  new  cus- 
toms were  irksome  to  me,"  he  writes,  but  he  was  in- 
formed that  the  king  himself  was  in  like  manner 
watched  when  he  ate,  and  even  when  he  dressed .^ 
Therefore,  in  conformity  with  his  custom  under  all 
troubles,  he  kissed  the  hem  of  the  robe  of  patience. 

His  journey  was  attended  with  many  trials.  He 
came  from  Toulon  to  Paris  in  the  winter,  and  most  of 
the  roads  over  which  he  traveled  were  probably  little 
better  than  those  to  be  found  in  Turkey.  He  was 
obliged  to  leave  much  of  his  luggage;  the  loaded 
wagons  broke  down,  and  he  and  his  servants  suffered 
every  discomfort.  When  he  was  presented  to  the 
regent,  he  told  him  that  the  joy  of  beholding  his  visage 
made  him  forget  the  pains  of  his  journey.  ''  But 
1  Relation,  62.  2  /j.^  81,  105. 


532  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

this,"  he  adds  conscientiously,  "  was  only  for  polite- 
ness. Not  the  expanse  of  the  nine  heavens  would 
suffice  to  contain  the  record  of  all  I  suffered  from 
Toulon  to  Paris."  i 

Still  he  found  consolation  when  he  had  reached  his 
journey's  end.  Paris  seemed  to  him,  as  to  many 
strangers  in  all  ages,  the  most  charming  residence  in 
the  whole  world.  Only  Constantinople  could  equal 
it.  He  drove  along  the  Cours  la  Reine  ;  saw  rows  of 
beautiful  trees,  and  carriages  filled  with  ladies  whose 
faces  were  those  of  angels,  and  whose  cheeks  were  of 
silver,  "  in  the  view  of  whom  I  found  a  pleasure  that 
cannot  be  expressed."  "  It  is  a  promenade,"  he  de- 
clares, "  that  chases  away  melancholy  and  augments 
joy."  2  "I  remembered,"  he  adds,  when  describing 
the  beauties  of  Paris  and  Versailles,  "  the  verse  of  the 
Koran  which  says  that  this  world  is  a  prison  for  the 
faithful,  but  paradise  for  the  infidels." 

The  political  results  of  this  embassy  were  not  very 
important.  Mehemet  made  his  solemn  entry  into  the 
city.  The  streets  were  filled  with  admiring  throngs. 
"  By  God's  succor,"  he  writes,  "  all  admit  that  never 
was  seen  in  Paris  an  entry  so  magnificent  as  mine."  ^ 
He  was  shown  the  young  king,  whose  beauty  he  greatly 
admired.  "  His  hair  was  like  threads  of  gold,"  he 
says,  "  his  walk  as  majestic  as  that  of  the  partridge."  ^ 
He  presented  the  "magnificent  and  important  letter'* 
of  his  master,  the  Sultan  Ahmed,  to  the  Grand  Vizier 
Dubois,  but  he  made  little  progress  with  his  negotia- 
tions. He  visited  Dubois,  but  the  cardinal  did  not 
return  the  visit,  alleging  the  custom  of  the  grand 
vizier  of  the  Sultan.  "  Our  grand  vizier  does  not 
1  Relation,  95.  2  /j,^  io7. 

8    Ih.y   79.  ^    Ih.y  118. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS.  633 

return  the  visit  of  ambassadors,"  says  the  indignant 
Mehemet,  "  but  he  invites  them  to  great  feasts ;  he 
bestows  on  them  a  cloak  of  sable,  and  a  magnificent 
horse  richly  caparisoned.  If  the  cardinal  wishes  to 
follow  the  example  of  our  grand  vizier,  let  him  do 
it  in  all  things ;  but  I  have  not  even  tasted  a  morsel 
of  his  bread."  ^  The  dispute  was  arranged,  but  it 
was  not  the  only  occasion  when  Dubois's  excessive 
desire  to  maintain  his  dignity  proved  injurious  to  the 
interests  which  he  represented.  France  had  long 
possessed  a  considerable  influence  in  the  East,  and 
controlled  a  large  part  of  the  trade  with  the  Levant. 
These  advantages  might  have  been  fostered  and  in- 
creased during  the  enlightened  administration  of  the 
grand  vizier  Ibrahim,  but  they  received  little  atten- 
tion. 

Dubois's  ambition  for  ecclesiastical  promotion  now 
engaged  his  energies,  and  interfered  with  the  wise 
policy  of  toleration  to  which  the  regent  was  inclined. 
"  If  the  Abbe  Dubois  is  thinking  of  being  a  cardinal," 
wrote  Alberoni  in  1718,  "  he  will  do  nothing  that  is 
not  directed  to  that  end."  ^  His  own  experience 
showed  how  a  prime  minister  who  wished  to  become  a 
cardinal  shaped  the  policy  of  the  country  to  gratify 
that  ambition.  The  long  delays  which  both  these 
ministers  experienced  in  the  pursuit  of  a  cardinal's 
hat  were  not  due  to  aversion  to  their  manners  or 
their  morals.  The  dignity  had  been  bestowed  on 
many  worse  men  than  either  Dubois  or  Alberoni,  on 
men  who  cared  less  for  religion,  and  who  had  less 
ground  on  which  to  claim  the  promotion.  But  when 
the  lust  for  the  cardinalate  possessed  one  who  con- 

1  Relation,  180-184. 

2  Alberoni  to  Cellamare,  October  10,  1718. 


534         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

trolled  the  policy  of  the  state,  it  was  a  mine  which 
could  be  worked  indefinitely.  Cardinals  were  often 
disobedient  and  ungrateful  to  the  Holy  See,  but  an 
applicant  for  the  honor  could  be  relied  on  to  pursue  a 
policy  which  would  be  acceptable  at  Rome.  He  was 
sure  to  remain  ultramontane  until  he  had  received  his 
promotion.  The  careers  of  Eichelieu,  Mazarin,  and 
Alberoni  showed  how  little  control  the  Roman  curia 
could  exercise  over  some  who  had  actually  been  clothed 
with  the  purple. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  began  his  administration  with 
marks  of  favor  for  those  who  belonged  to  the  Jansen- 
ist  faction  in  the  church.  This  was  highly  distasteful 
to  Clement  XI.  He  had  himself  issued  the  bull  Uni- 
genitus,  by  which  one  hundred  and  one  propositions 
contained  in  the  Moral  Reflections  of  the  Jansenist 
Quesnel  were  declared  heretical.  So  great  a  number 
were  chosen  for  condemnation,  as  was  alleged,  because 
Le  Tellier  had  told  Louis  XIV.  that  he  could  find  a 
hundred  heresies  in  Quesnel's  book,  and  he  insisted 
that  the  Pope's  judgment  should  ratify  all  that  he  had 
asserted.  Certainly  the  bull  was  extorted  by  Jesuit 
influence,  and  its  acceptance  in  France  was  urged  by 
Jesuit  intrigues. 

Orleans  had  no  fondness  for  the  Jesuits,  and  he 
naturally  allied  himself  with  their  opponents.  Jan- 
senists  were  released  from  confinement ;  they  obtained 
promotion  in  the  church ;  efforts  to  compel  an  accep- 
tance of  the  doctrines  of  the  Unigenitus  were  no  longer 
seconded  by  the  influence  of  the  state.  Enraged  at 
such  measures,  the  Pope  declined  to  furnish  bulls  for 
those  whom  the  regent  nominated  as  bishops ;  three 
archbishoprics  and  twelve  bishoprics  were  thus  left 
without  shepherds  for  the  flocks.     Orleans  was  in  no 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS.  535 

humor  to  allow  this  infraction  on  the  principles  of  the 
Concordat.  A  commission  was  appointed  to  examine 
the  ancient  precedents  of  the  church,  and  to  devise 
means  for  the  consecration  of  his  nominees  without 
waiting  for  the  papal  authority.  The  members  of  the 
commission  were  men  of  the  strongest  Gallican  ten- 
dencies ;  they  took  counsel  with  clergy  equally  known 
for  their  learning  and  for  their  opposition  to  the  en- 
croachments of  the  papacy.  The  bare  announcement 
of  the  appointment  of  such  a  commission  produced 
consternation  at  Rome.  Louis  XIV.  had  been  vig- 
orous in  asserting  his  own  authority,  but  there  was  no 
danger  that  his  disputes  with  the  Holy  Father  would 
lead  him  to  forsake  the  true  faith.  It  was  different 
with  the  regent :  he  had  no  religious  belief ;  his  ad- 
visers were  of  the  extremest  sect  of  Gallicans.  A 
messenger  started  from  Rome  in  hot  haste,  bringing 
the  bulls  for  all  the  vacant  bishoprics ;  the  prudence 
of  the  papacy  avoided  the  continuance  of  a  dangerous 
quarrel.^ 

The  temporary  ascendency  of  Jansenist  counsellors 
was  not  attended  by  any  important  results.  The  fol- 
lowers of  Jansen  were  quite  as  narrow  in  their  the- 
ology as  their  opponents ;  they  opposed  any  measures 
of  toleration  for  the  Protestants  as  bitterly  as  Le  Tel- 
lier  or  La  Chaise.  The  superiority  of  the  Jansenists 
over  their  Jesuit  antagonists  was  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  in  the  minority ;  their  virtues  were 
such  as  are  developed  in  those  who  suffer  persecution  ; 
had  they  become  the  predominant  faction,  there  was 
nothing  in  their  beliefs  to  prevent  the  development  of 
the  vices  found  in  those  who  inflict  persecution.     Time- 

1  St.  Simon,  xiv.  393-396.  St.  Simon  was  the  head  of  the 
commission. 


536         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

servers  were  not  found  in  their  ranks,  because  a  pro- 
fession of  the  tenets  of  Jansen  was  not  the  road  to 
favor ;  their  followers  possessed  the  hardy  virtues 
which  blossom  in  the  shadow  of  adversity ;  it  is  much 
to  be  feared  that  these  would  have  withered  away  in 
the  sunlight  of  prosperity. 

The  favor  of  the  Jansenists  was  brief,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  the  government  was  soon  again  exercised  in 
behalf  of  their  opponents.  This  change  in  the  policy 
of  the  regent  was  due  to  the  influence  of  Dubois. 
The  abbe  was  as  free  from  strong  convictions  on 
questions  of  Molinism,  or  saving  grace,  as  was  his 
master,  but  he  wished  to  be  appointed  a  cardinal  by 
Clement  XI.  Nothing  was  so  offensive  to  the  Pope 
as  the  scandalous  resistance  made  in  France  to  accept- 
ing his  definition  of  the  faith ;  nothing  would  seem  to 
him  more  meritorious  than  to  restore  religious  unity 
in  that  country,  and  to  induce  a  docile  adherence  to 
the  dogmas  of  the  Unigenitus. 

Several  of  the  French  prelates  had  appealed  to  a  fu- 
ture council  from  the  doctrines  laid  down  by  Clement 
XI. ;  the  Sorbonne  and  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  fol- 
lowed their  example.  Such  a  step  was  equivalent  to 
declaring  that  the  Pope  had  erred  on  questions  of 
dogma,  and  the  appeals  were  quashed  as  illegal  and 
scandalous.  The  warfare  grew  more  acrimonious. 
In  October,  1717,  an  edict  of  the  regent  forbade  fur- 
ther publications  on  the  subject  of  the  Unigenitus. 
This  mandate  was  unheeded.  In  1719,  another  effort 
was  made,  and  absolute  silence  on  the  subject  of  the 
bull  was  ordered  during  the  period  of  one  year.  The 
regent  sadly  misjudged  the\character  of  enraged  theo- 
logians if  he  thought  that  any  truce  of  God  would  be 
observed  by  them.  The  contest  went  on  with  una- 
bated fury. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS.  537 

Severer  and  more  effective  measures  were  taken 
against  the  Jansenists.  Ecclesiastical  preferments 
were  bestowed  only  on  those  who  accepted  the  bull. 
The  bishops  and  the  inferior  clergy  exercised  a  ty- 
rannical authority  in  aid  of  the  cause.  Persons  who 
refused  to  adhere  to  the  Constitution  were  left  to  die 
unabsolved  ;  bishops  refused  to  admit  to  holy  orders 
those  educated  at  schools  where  its  doctrines  were  not 
accepted ;  the  Bishop  of  Grasse  led  a  mob  which 
broke  the  windows  of  a  building  occupied  by  the  fa- 
thers of  the  Oratory,  because  they  denied  its  validity ; 
the  Archbishop  of  Aries  in  his  pastoral  said  that  the 
plague  of  locusts,  with  which  his  diocese  was  afflicted, 
was  plainly  due  to  the  impious  resistance  of  those 
who  refused  to  accept  the  buU.^  Excommunications 
were  frequent,  and  violences  were  often  excited  by 
the  pious  zeal  of  the  combatants. 

Dubois  labored  to  effect  some  arrangement  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  the  leader  of  the  party  op- 
posed to  the  Constitution,  and  the  archbishop  was  at 
last  induced  to  sign  an  acceptance  of  the  bull  accom- 
panied with  an  explanation  of  some  of  its  expressions. 
This  the  Parliament  agreed  to  register,  in  order  to  be 
released  from  its  exile  at  Pontoise ;  the  contending 
parties  were  ordered  in  future  to  live  together  in  har- 
mony, to  abandon  all  appeals  from  the  bull,  and  to 
cease  calling  each  other  heretics,  schismatics,  Jansen- 
ists. and  other  opprobrious  terms.^  This  nominal  rec- 
onciliation was  as  hollow  as  most  reconciliations ;  the 

1  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  i.  325  ;  ii.  389  ;  iv.  1902  ;  Ma- 
rais,  i.  290. 

2  The  Journal  de  VAhhe  Dorsanne  gives  a  history  of  these  con- 
flicts over  the  Unigenitus  which  is  equally  accurate  and  tedious. 
The  literature  of  the  subject  is  very  copious. 


538    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

contest  continued  to  be  waged  for  more  than  a  gener- 
ation, with  mutual  recrimination,  with  persecution  by 
those  who  were  in  power,  and  bad  language  by  those 
who  were  out  of  power. 

These  efforts  to  induce  an  acceptance  of  the  Uni- 
genitus,  and  whatever  apparent  success  attended  them, 
were  urged  by  Dubois  as  arguments  for  his  elevation 
to  the  cardinalate.  The  intrigues  by  which  he  at  last 
received  that  office  are  interesting,  because  they  were 
by  no  means  without  precedent.  Dubois  had  more  to 
promise  and  more  to  give  than  most  aspirants  for  the 
purple,  and  therefore  more  was  required  of  him.  But 
other  promotions  were  obtained  by  equally  corrupt 
means.  The  politics  of  the  Roman  Curia  have  been 
purified  since  this  era;  the  standard  of  honor  and 
honesty  has  been  raised  at  the  Vatican,  as  well  as  with 
most  European  governments. 

In  1718,  a  Jesuit  agent  at  Rome  began  to  intrigue 
with  Clement  XI.  for  Dubois's  promotion.  The  idea 
was  at  first  broached  without  the  knowledge  of  Or- 
leans, and  the  abbe  seems  to  have  had  some  hesitation 
in  revealing  to  his  patron  the  extent  of  his  ambition. 
Curiously  enough,  he  resorted  to  a  Protestant  govern- 
ment for  aid,  and  both  George  I.  and  Stanhope  wrote, 
urging  the  regent  to  increase  the  consideration  and  in- 
fluence of  his  minister  by  securing  his  promotion  as  a 
cardinal.^  It  was  by  services  such  as  these,  instead  of 
by  enormous  pensions,  that  the  English  government 
requited  Dubois  for  his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  Eng- 
lish alliance.  The  obligation  was  the  same  in  either 
case,  but  to  ask  assistance  for  his  ambitious  schemes 
was  less  degrading  than  to  take  his  pay  in  hard  cash. 

1  Stanhope  to  Stair,  June  27,  1719  ;  George  I.  to  regent, 
November  14,  1719. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS,  639 

The  abb^  need  have  had  no  hesitation  in  asking  the 
regent  for  aid.  Even  if  his  Christian  character  was 
not  in  all  respects  fitting  for  a  prince  of  the  church, 
that  fact  did  not  disturb  Orleans,  and  he  thought,  un- 
doubtedly, that  Dubois  was  quite  as  proper  a  man  to 
belong  to  the  College  of  Cardinals  as  many  who  were 
already  members.  The  regent  wrote  the  Pope  in  the 
abbe's  behalf,  and  he  received  the  official  nomination 
of  France.  Notwithstanding  this,  his  trials  had  only 
begun. 

Clement  XI.  was  a  subtle,  wily  man ;  he  was  old, 
slow  to  reach  a  decision,  and  most  unwilling  to  allow 
it  to  become  irrevocable.  He  entertained  no  strong 
affection  for  France  or  the  regent.  The  long  quarrels 
over  the  Unigenitus  had  irritated  him ;  the  indepen- 
dent character  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  not  re- 
garded with  favor  at  the  Vatican ;  the  Pope  knew 
that  Dubois  was  greedy  to  become  a  cardinal,  and  he 
was  in  no  haste  to  make  him  one.  The  applicant 
stated  his  claims  for  the  promotion.  "We  have  at 
heart,'-  he  wrote,  "  the  glory  of  God  and  of  religion, 
the  honor  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  reputation  of  the 
Pope."  ^  Doubtless  this  was  much,  but  it  was  not 
enough.  In  November,  Clement  announced  the 
names  of  ten  new  cardinals,  and  that  of  Dubois  was 
not  among  them.  Two  Frenchmen  were  included  in 
the  list,  but  not  the  all-powerful  minister. 

This  was  a  severe  blow.  It  was  now  intimated  that 
if  the  English  Pretender  could  be  induced  to  give  to 
Dubois  the  nomination  which  the  papacy  still  accorded 
to  that  fugitive  sovereign,  all  might  be  well.  The 
Pope  felt  bound  to  give  pecuniary  aid  to  one  who  had 

1  Dubois  k  Lafiteau,  August  9,  1719.  Lafiteau  was  shortly 
afterwards  made  Bishop  of  Sisteron. 


540         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

sacrificed  a  crown  rather  than  renounce  the  faith,  and 
this  was  sometimes  burdensome.^  If  a  subsidy  could 
be  procured  from  France,  it  would  be  of  great  assist- 
ance both  to  the  Pope  and  the  Pretender,  and  Du- 
bois's nomination  would  be  assured  by  this  act  of  be- 
nevolence. This  suggestion  was  not  acceptable.  "  I 
will  do  my  duty  with  fidelity  and  zeal,"  wrote  Dubois, 
"  but  an  honest  man  grows  weary  if  one  haggles  with 
him,  and  will  grant  no  grace  unless  he  pays  for  it."  ^ 

The  situation  was  indeed  an  embarrassing  one. 
Dubois,  had  asked  and  received  the  assistance  of 
George  I. ;  his  political  fortunes  rested  on  the  English 
alliance  ;  he  had  signed  the  treaty  by  which  France 
agreed  to  give  no  aid  nor  succor  to  the  Jacobite 
cause.  What  would  be  his  position  if  it  should  ap- 
pear that  he  was  sending  money  to  the  Pretender,  and 
relying  on  the  influence  of  that  prince  to  obtain  his 
promotion  as  a  cardinal  ?  "  Dubois,"  said  one  who 
admired  his  talents  more  than  his  virtues,  "  has  ability 
enough  to  negotiate  with  Heaven  itself,  if  negotiations 
were  carried  on  there."  ^  His  intrigues  at  Rome 
showed  that  this  praise  was  not  excessive.  During 
all  his  efforts  to  be  made  a  cardinal,  he  had  the  aid 
both  of  the  Hanoverian  king  and  of  the  Stuart  ex- 
ile, and  he  succeeded  in  concealing  from  the  English 
ministers  his  new  and  intimate  relations  with  the 
Chevalier  of  St.  George.  Before  giving  any  money 
to  the  Pretender,  Dubois  suggested  that  direct  bribery 
might  prove  more  efficacious.  "  Would  not  300,000 
livres  distributed  among  the  family  of  the  Pope  con- 

1  '*Un  heros  de  la  Catholicity,"  Dubois  justly  styled  the  Pre- 
tender.—  Dubois  a  Rohan,  May  10,  1721. 

2  Dubois  a  Sisteron,  March  14,  1720. 
8  Journal  de  Marais,  ii.  220. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS,  541 

elude  the  matter  more  easily  than  by  the  interven- 
tion of  that  prince  ? "  he  inquired.^  Apparently  it 
was  thought  not :  50,000  crowns  were  given  the  cheva- 
lier. "  The  couriers  from  Paris  to  Kome  are  never 
empty-handed,  like  those  from  Rome  to  Paris,"  wrote 
the  abbe  sadly.^  The  chevalier  was  profuse  in  his 
thanks.  "  I  have  not  words  to  express  what  I  feel 
towards  the  regent  and  his  minister,"  he  said  ;  "  they 
possess  in  perfection  the  art  of  gaining  friends."  He 
solicited  Dubois's  nomination  from  the  Pope,  remained 
constant  to  his  interests,  and  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  earn  the  money  which  he  received. 

Dubois  was  now  impatient  to  obtain  his  promotion 
without  delay.  These  bargains  were  divshonorable,  he 
justly  said,  and  to  remain  so  long  a  suppliant  was  dis- 
graceful to  one  of  his  position  ;  moreover,  and  worst 
of  all,  the  Pope  was  very  old.^  He  described  his  la- 
bors in  the  cause  of  the  Unigenitus,  and  the  peace  of 
the  church  which  he  had  obtained ;  he  dwelt  on  the 
services  which,  as  a  cardinal,  he  could  render  the  Holy 
See  at  the  great  Congress  of  Cambray  which  was  soon 
to  assemble.^  Nor  was  this  all.  He  pictured  the  ma- 
terial benefits  which  the  Pope  and  his  family  might 
anticipate,  with  a  naivete  that  was  characteristic,  but 
was  not  dignified.  "  I  need  not  repeat  what  it  will  be 
my  glory  and  my  pleasure  to  furnish,  both  for  his 
Holiness  and  for  Cardinal  Albani,  attentions,  gratifica- 
tions, engravings,  books,  jewels,  presents  of  every  sort ; 
every  day  will  see  something  new  and  pleasing,  so  soon 
as  I  have  the  right  to  show  my  gratitude  and  can  do 

1  Dubois  a  Sisteron,  June  22,  1720. 

2  Dubois  k  Sisteron,  March  24,  1720. 
8  Dubois  k  Sisteron. 

*  Dubois  k  Gualteroi,  March  27,  1720. 


542         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

it  honorably.  ...  If  his  Holiness  will  put  me  in  that 
situation,  there  will  be  never  a  day  of  his  life  when  he 
will  not  receive  from  me  something  to  console  or  to 
amuse  him,  which  will  make  him  look  for  every  post 
with  eagerness.  His  wishes  cannot  exceed  my  desire 
to  gratify  them."  ^ 

It  was  a  hard-hearted  Pope  who  could  resist  such 
a  picture,  but  still  Clement  promised,  and  still  he 
failed  to  perform.  Dubois  poured  out  his  complaints 
with  vehemence.  "  Where  you  are,"  he  wrote  his 
agent,  "is  a  labyrinth,  from  which  perhaps  one  can 
never  escape.  Services  already  rendered  count  for 
nothing ;  promises  are  made  only  to  obtain  new  fa- 
vors ;  the  life  of  an  aspirant  is  consumed  in  vain 
hopes  and  indecent  bargains  ;  no  man  of  sense  or  honor 
will  spend  his  days  in  this  purgatory."  ^  "  Speak  no 
more  to  the  Pope  about  the  matter,"  he  said  later, 
"  and  write  no  more  about  it."  ^  The  abbe's  with- 
drawal was  estimated  at  its  just  value  by  his  servants. 
''  We  must  serve  the  minister  in  spite  of  himself," 
wrote  his  confidential  secretary.  The  Chevalier  of 
St.  George  was  sincerely  friendly  to  Dubois,  and  was 
less  familiar  with  the  artifices  of  the  Vatican.  He  was 
plunged  in  grief  when  he  was  told  of  the  withdrawal. 
Clement  received  the  news  in  a  less  seemly  manner, 
and  only  smiled  at  the  intelligence  ;  he  knew  well  that 
those  who  had  the  lust  for  the  purple  abandoned  its 
pursuit  only  with  life.^ 

The  pretense  of  indifference  was  not  long  continued. 
Dubois's  agent  continued  his  assaults,  and  Clement  at 

1  Dubois  k  Sisteron,  June  22,  1720. 

2  Dubois  k  Sisteron,  April  17,  1720. 

8  Dubois  k  Sisteron,  August  13,  1720. 
*  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  September  15,  1720. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DUBOIS,  543 

last  gave  him  a  formal  and  explicit  promise  to  make 
the  abbe  a  cardinal.  With  a  zeal  that  showed  some 
lack  of  confidence  in  the  papal  word,  Sisteron  be- 
sought the  Pope  to  put  the  promise  in  writing,  but 
this  the  wily  Italian  declined  to  do.^  Fresh  appliances 
were  brought  to  bear  to  induce  him  to  keep  his  word. 
Through  the  influence  of  Dubois's  English  friends,  the 
Emperor  consented  to  write,  soliciting  his  nomination. 
Not  only  did  the  abbe  obtain  the  assistance  of  the 
Emperor,  whose  ally  he  had  been,  but  he  was  adroit 
enough  to  extract  letters  in  his  favor  from  Philip  V., 
whose  plans  he  had  so  bitterly  opposed.  The  eleva- 
tion of  Dubois  to  the  cardinalate  became  a  European 
question,  and  engaged  the  attention  of  the  statesmen 
of  every  country. 

Perhaps  the  English  would  have  been  less  zealous 
in  their  efforts,  if  they  had  known  that  their  friend 
was  assuring  the  Pretender  of  his  zeal  for  his  restora- 
tion to  the  throne,  and  that  he  directed  his  gratitude 
to  be  expressed  "to  his  Britannic  Majesty  the  king 
of  England."  ^  Probably,  however,  they  would  have 
thought  that  all  of  Dubois's  promises  and  fair  words 
would  have  little  effect  upon  his  policy,  and  in  this 
they  would  have  been  right.  "  No  consideration  for 
my  own  affairs,"  he  wrote  his  agent,  "  will  turn  me 
from  my  duties  as  a  minister,  or  from  the  interests 
of  the  state,  which  are  determined  by  the  general 
position  of  Europe.  It  cannot  be  expected,  however, 
that  the  public  will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe  this."  ^ 
This  statement  was  very  nearly  the  truth.     Dubois 

1  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  December  17,  1720. 

2  Dubois  k  Tencin,  July  11,  1721  ;  Dubois  k  Gualterio,  Au- 
gust 7,  1721. 

*  Dubois  k  Sisteron,  January  20,  1721. 


644         FRANCE  UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

certainly  made  inconsistent  promises  ;  he  put  himself 
under  obligations  to  any  one  who  would  help  him  ;  but 
the  action  which  he  took  as  a  minister  of  the  state 
was  usually  controlled  by  considerations  of  sagacious 
policy,  and  with  very  little  regard  to  expectations 
which  he  had  held  out,  but  did  not  choose  to  fulfill. 

His  agents  continued  their  endeavors  at  Rome. 
Lafiteau  threw  himself  at  the  Pope's  feet,  praying  for 
a  written  promise  ;  he  pressed  Clement's  hands  with 
filial  tenderness.  "  Give  me  the  word  of  life,"  he  ex- 
claimed. "  By  Tuesday  you  shall  have  the  writing," 
replied  the  Pope.^  In  the  mean  time  20,000  crowns 
were  promised  the  Pretender  the  moment  that  Cle- 
ment executed  the  written  promise,  and  30,000  more 
when  the  promotion  was  made.^  At  last  the  paper 
was  signed  and  delivered  to  the  chevalier,  and  he  an- 
nounced the  news  to  the  applicant  with  great  joy.^ 
The  abbe  had  only  to  see  it,  to  discover  that  he  had 
again  been  trifled  with.  There  was  indeed,  nominally, 
a  promise  to  appoint  him  a  cardinal,  but  it  was  bur- 
dened with  such  conditions,  and  involved  in  such  un- 
certainties, that  it  amounted  to  nothing.  Clement 
was  not  much  longer  to  be  disturbed  by  these  solici- 
tations. In  March,  1721,  he  died,  without  making 
Dubois  a  cardinal.  As  the  Pope  lay  on  his  deathbed, 
his  nephew  endeavored,  in  the  intervals  of  delirium, 

1  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  January  14,  1 721. 

2  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  December  31,  1720.  "  Thirty  thousand 
crowns  our  Maecenas  says  you  may  promise  Cardinal  Albani  the 
day  the  Pope  consummates  this  grace."  —  Pecquet  k  Sisteron, 
January  19, 1721.  Albani  was  the  Pope's  nephew.  He  was  short 
in  his  accounts,  and  demanded  the  money  at  once.  It  was  finally 
given  him  to  buy  his  assistance  in  the  conclave.  —  Sisteron  k 
Pecquet,  February  4,  1721  ;  Rohan  k  Dubois,  May  15,  1721. 

2  Jacobus  Rex  k  Dubois,  January  15,  1721. 


THE  MINISTRY   OF  DUBOIS.  545 

to  earn  the  reward  offered  by  obtaining  the  abbe's 
elevation.  The  importunities  ceased  only  when  life 
was  extinct. 

In  the  election  of  the  new  Pope,  the  influence  of 
the  French  faction  was  exerted  for  whoever  would 
promise  Dubois's  speedy  promotion  in  return  for  their 
support.^  One  hundred  thousand  crowns  also  were 
sent  to  Rome  with  which  to  buy  votes  in  the  con- 
clave.^ Cardinals  were  purchased  then  with  the  same 
facility  that  ward  politicians  in  New  York  city  are  pur- 
chased now.  The  efforts  of  the  French  were  success- 
ful ;  on  May  8,  1721,  Cardinal  Conti  was  chosen  Pope, 
and  took  the  name  of  Innocent  XIII.  He  had  en- 
tered into  a  solemn  bargain  by  which  Dubois  was  to  be 
made  a  cardinal,  on  condition  that  the  regent  allowed 
a  sufficient  pension  to  the  Chevalier  of  St.  George  to 
relieve  the  Holy  See  from  a  portion  of  its  burdens.^ 

Notwithstanding  this  unholy  bargain,  the  new  Pope 
delayed  in  making  the  promotion.  The  pension  of 
the  Pretender  was  arranged  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  him,  and  Dubois's  agents  threatened  to  make  public 
the  agreement  by  which  Innocent  had  secured  his  elec- 
tion. This  would  have  been  equally  disagreeable  to 
both  parties,  and  it  was  not  done.  Resort  was  had  to 
the  more  usual  process  of  liberal  bribery.  The  Pope 
was  anxious  to  buy  a  library  which  w^as  for  sale,  but 
he  had  not  the  money.  It  was  bought  for  him  and 
cost  15,000  crowns.  "  This  has  only  served  to  excite 
the  appetite  of  a  family  which  is  poor,  numerous,  and 

1  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  March  19,  1721. 

2  Sisteron  k  Dubois,  March  14,  April  7,  1721,  et  pas, 

8  Cor.  de  Rome,  626,  303.  Dubois  k  Rohan,  "  Pour  mettre 
votre  excellence  en  dtat  de  ne  pas  manquer  I'acquisition  de 
quelques  voix  avantageuses." 

4  Rohan  k  Dubois,  May  6,  1721. 


546    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

hungry,"  wrote  the  Abbe  Tencin.  "  Try  to  send  at 
least  10,000  pistoles  more.  One  can  do  nothing  here 
without  money."  ^  Dubois  was  in  despair  at  these 
constant  demands,  which  had  now  extended  over  three 
years.  "  I  send  you  10,000  pistoles,"  he  writes  Car- 
dinal Rohan.2  "  I  had  to  borrow  it  on  my  own  ac- 
count. .  .  .  Do  not  use  this  money  except  in  two  cases  : 
one  is,  to  satisfy  engagements  for  something  which  has 
actually  been  done,  instead  of  something  which  is 
going  to  be  done  ;  the  other  is,  if  you  have  need  of  it 
yourself.  In  these  two  cases  I  consent  to  my  own 
ruin."  ^  He  was  still  more  explicit  with  his  favorite 
agent,  the  Abbe  Tencin.  '^  I  am  in  such  distress  that 
I  can  suffer  no  more ;  there  is  no  headdress  that  costs 
more  extravagantly  than  the  hat  of  a  cardinal.  ...  I 
can  get  no  money  from  the  royal  treasury.  ...  I  have 
no  property.  I  owe  250,000  francs  which  cry  for  pa}^- 
ment.  .  .  .  Such  are  the  subjects  of  my  meditations, 
since  receiving  your  letters.  I  am  not  dead,  and  that 
is  something."  ^ 

It  is  always  darkest  just  before  daybreak.  When 
Dubois  was  inditing  these  despairing  letters,  the  con- 
test was  already  over  and  the  victory  won.  In  the 
Consistory  of  July  16,  1721,  the  Abbd  Dubois,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cambray,  was  promoted  by  Innocent  XIII. 
to  be  a  cardinal  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

^  Tencin  a  Dubois,  July,  1721.  The  chief  objection  suggested 
to  Conti  as  Pope  was  that  his  relations  were  poor.  —  Cor.  de 
Rome,  628,  74.  Experience  showed  that  the  cost  of  providing 
for  a  number  of  poor  relations  was  considerable,  and  that  each 
Pope  saw  that  his  own  were  taken  care  of. 

2  They  cost  300,000  francs,  on  account  of  the  high  rate  of 
exchange. 

8  Dubois  k  Rohan,  July  23,  1721. 

*  Dubois  k  Tencin,  July  23,  1721. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE   CLOSE   OF   THE  REGENCY. 
1721-1723. 

Only  one  thing  now  remained  for  Dubois's  ambi- 
tion, and  he  was  not  long  delayed  in  its  acquisition. 
The  office  of  a  secretary  of  state  seemed  beneath  the 
dignity  of  a  cardinal,  and  he  asked  to  be  made  prime 
minister.  For  sixty  years  no  one  had  held  that  po- 
sition in  France ;  the  very  name  had  been  odious  to 
Louis  XIV.  But  Orleans  was  easily  brought  to 
believe  that  with  increased  authority  Dubois  could 
relieve  him  still  more  from  the  burdens  of  the  state  ; 
he  would  have  found  it  difficult  to  say  no  to  his 
adroit  and  pertinacious  adviser,  whatever  his  feelings 
might  have  been.  On  August  23,  1722,  Dubois 
was  declared  prime  minister,  and  he  succeeded  to  the 
office  which  had  remained  vacant  since  the  death  of 
Mazarin. 

He  was  now  approaching  seventy,  but  his  industry 
and  his  love  of  aifairs  increased  with  advancing 
years  ;  everything  passed  through  his  hands,  and  he 
begrudged  the  slightest  division  of  the  authority 
which  he  had  acquired.  His  bad  temper  was  aggra- 
vated by  excessive  labor  and  by  disease,  and  inter- 
views with  him  were  often  of  a  stormy  nature.  His 
anger  sometimes  degenerated  into  frenzy,  said  a  dis- 
pleased ambassador,  until  one  could  not  confer  with 


648    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

him  with  any  comfort ;  moreover  he  would  not  keep 
his  word.^ 

Dubois  had  checked  the  unquiet  ambition  of  Al- 
beroni  and  Philip  V.,  but  he  now  sought  to  restore 
intimate  relations  between  the  French  and  Spanish 
courts  by  matrimonial  alliances.  These  overtures 
were  received  with  delight  by  Philip  and  his  wife. 
If  fortune  did  not  destine  them  to  sit  on  the  French 
throne,  their  greatest  consolation  would  be  to  see 
their  daughter  the  wife  of  the  French  king.  An  al- 
liance was  agreed  upon  between  Louis  XV.  and  a 
three-year-old  daughter  of  Philip  V.  Orleans  an- 
nounced the  news  to  the  young  king ;  his  usual  silent 
indifference  was  somewhat  disturbed,  and  he  shed  a 
few  tears  at  the  prospect,  but  he  submitted  to  his 
fate.  The  infant  princess  was  sent  to  Paris  to  be 
educated  for  her  future  position.  The  regent's  pa- 
ternal ambition  was  also  gratified.  One  of  his  daugh- 
ters was  married  to  Philip's  oldest  son,  the  heir 
apparent  to  the  Spanish  throne.  The  arrival  of  the 
princess  in  Spain  was  celebrated  in  a  manner  fitting 
the  traditions  of  that  country :  an  auto  dafe  was  per- 
formed in  her  honor.  Though  heresy  had  been  crushed 
in  Spain,  Jews  and  witches  still  furnished  food  for  the 
Inquisition,  and  over  fifteen  hundred  persons  perished 
at  the  stake  during  the  reign  of  Philip  V.^ 

The  Spanish  Infanta  was  greeted  with  celebrations 

1  Dis.  Venezianif  filza  212,  148.  Elsewhere  he  speaks  of  "  La 
sua  applicazione  indeffessa,  gli  transport!  di  una  ira  mai  tran- 
quilla,  e  di  una  ambizione  non  mai  sazia."  —  lb.,  145. 

2  Llorente,  History  of  the  Inquisition.  The  French  minister, 
Maulevrier,  writes  of  nearly  one  hundred  persons  burned  at  the 
stake  in  a  few  cities,  during  four  years  that  he  was  in  Spain. 
Of  these  nearly -one  half  were  women.  The  figures  are  collected 
from  his  letters  by  L^montey. 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  REGENCY.  649 

more  in  harmony  with  the  tastes  of  the  French 
people.  All  Paris  was  decorated  in  her  honor ;  she 
passed  under  triumphal  arches,  whose  inscriptions  de- 
clared her  to  be  the  hope  of  the  Gauls ;  the  judges  of 
the  Parliament,  the  professors  of  the  University,  the 
literati  of  the  Academy,  received  her  with  ornate  and 
tedious  orations  ;  bonfires  and  fireworks  proclaimed 
the  joy  of  the  French  at  the  arrival  of  a  princess 
who  was  not  destined  to  become  their  queen.  The 
education  of  those  of  royal  blood  at  least  fitted  them 
for  the  life  of  display  to  which  they  were  destined. 
The  room  was  crowded  one  day  when  the  Infanta  was 
eating  her  dinner,  and  the  heat  was  intense.  "  It  is 
very  warm,"  said  the  four-year-old  princess,  ''but  I 
prefer  to  endure  it  and  let  myself  be  seen  by  my 
people."  ^  The  two  countries  were  united  by  treaties, 
as  well  as  by  matrimonial  alliances,  and  the  French 
agreed  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  secure  for  Spain  the 
restoration  of  Gibraltar.  These  efforts  were  unsuc- 
cessful. Within  three  years  the  Infanta  was  ignomin- 
iously  sent  back  to  Spain  by  the  regent's  successor  in 
power ;  Orleans's  daughter  had  become  a  widow,  and 
was  fairly  chased  out  of  the  country  by  her  Spanish 
relatives ;  the  alliance  between  France  and  Spain  was 
as  unimportant  in  its  results  as  it  was  brief  in  its 
duration. 

In  February,  1723,  Louis  XV.  completed  his  thir- 
teenth year ;  by  the  law  of  France  he  then  assumed 
power  in  person,  and  the  regency  terminated.  In 
October  of  1722,  Louis  was  consecrated  king  at 
Eheims.  If  a  spectator  had  regarded  names  only, 
he  might  have  believed  himself  in  feudal  France,  wit- 
nessing the  consecration  of  a  sovereign  of  the  house 

1  Duchess  of  Ventadour  to  Queeu  of  Spam,  July  20, 1722. 


550  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

of  Capet.  The  dukes  of  Burgundy,  Normandy,  and 
Aquitaine,  the  counts  of  Toulouse,  Flanders,  and 
Champagne,  were  there  to  support  the  crown;  the 
Constable  of  France  stood  by,  holding  the  sword  of 
his  office ;  the  sacred  ampulla,  which  had  been  sent 
from  heaven,  was  brought  in  solemn  state  from  its 
resting-place ;  the  king  was  invested  with  an  ecclesi- 
astical as  well  as  a  political  character,  and  he  received 
the  communion  in  both  kinds ;  after  the  ceremony,  he 
touched  those  afflicted  by  disease,  as  had  been  done 
in  the  days  of  faith.^  Of  all  this  ceremonial  there 
was  little  that  was  not  unreal.  The  peers  of  Charle- 
magne were  fictions,  and  the  crown  was  supported  by 
nobles  who  bore,  for  that  ceremony  only,  the  ancient 
historic  names  of  Normandy  and  Aquitaine,  of  Flan- 
ders and  Toulouse  ;  the  constable  was  a  fictitious  con- 
stable, arrayed  in  the  insignia  of  an  office  that  was 
extinct  ;  the  archbishop  who  bore  the  sacred  ampulla 
did  not  believe  that  it  had  come  from  heaven  ;  the 
sick,  pressing  to  be  touched,  were  brought  to  the  cere- 
monial, not  in  the  faith  of  being  healed,  but  in  the 
hope  of  receiving  alms.  A  crown  which  purported 
to  be  that  of  Charlemagne  was  used  in  the  consecra- 
tion. It  was  too  large,  and  had  to  be  replaced  by  a 
smaller  one,  which  the  sovereign  actually  wore.  This 
was  symbolic.  The  ancient  conception  of  the  royal 
office  had  outgrown  the  actual  possessor.  The  crown 
of  Charlemao^ne  was  too  laro^e  for  Louis  XV.  The 
sword  of  justice  with  which  he  was  girt  he  was  un- 
able to  wield ;  the  vows  which  he  made  to  redress  the 
wrong,  to  humble  the  proud  and  exa.lt  the  lowly,  were 
as  idle  words  as  when  the  Bishop  of  Laon  asked  those 
assembled  in  the  church  if  they  consented  to  receive 
1  Relation  clu  Sacre  dii  Roy,  1722. 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  551 

Louis  XV.  for  their  king.  The  ancient  conception  of 
kingship  no  longer  corresponded  with  its  actual  char- 
acter. An  acute  observer  at  the  consecration  of 
Louis  XV.  might  have  foreboded  the  approaching  end 
of  the  French  monarchy,  because  the  reality  differed 
so  largely  from  the  ceremonial ;  he  might  have  felt 
that  an  institution  where  so  much  was  idle  form  had 
ceased  to  possess  actual  usefulness ;  that,  instead  of 
being  a  living  force,  it  was  becoming  an  empty  tra- 
dition. One  who  recognized  to  the  fullest  extent 
what  the  monarchy  had  done  for  France  in  the  past 
might  well  have  questioned  if  the  time  was  not  ap- 
proaching when  it  could  render  no  further  service, 
when  it  must  join  the  phantom  dukes  and  counts  and 
constables  whose  names  still  resounded  in  the  ancient 
cathedral  of  Rheims,  but  whose  offices  had  long  ceased 
to  exist. 

The  healing  powers  belonging  to  the  sacred  per- 
son of  the  sovereign  were  regarded  with  incredulity, 
even  by  those  who  had  insisted  that  he  should  pro- 
fess to  exercise  them.  After  the  ceremony  a  zealous 
cure  reported  that  one  of  his  parishioners  had  been 
touched  and  cured,  but  he  was  ordered  to  say  no  more 
about  the  matter.  The  entire  community  was  not 
equally  skeptical ;  the  age  of  miracles  was  not  be- 
lieved by  all  to  be  wholly  passed.  When  a  great  fire 
was  raging  at  Paris,  Cardinal  Noailles  hastened  to  the 
conflagration,  exposed  the  sacrament,  and  the  flames 
were  checked.^  It  was  reported  that  the  body  of  a 
Calvinist  minister  who  had  been  buried  in  Switzer- 
land was  repeatedly  thrown  out  from  the  earth  where 
it  was  placed ;  investigation  showed  that  underneath 
this  unquiet  grave  a  Catholic  bishop  had  been  buried 
^  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence^  ii.  986. 


552    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

two  centuries  before,  and  it  was  manifest  that  his 
ashes  would  not  rest  tranquilly  beneath  the  remains 
of  a  heretic.^  When  we  find  this  story  told  in  detail 
by  a  man  who  had  sufficient  intelligence  to  write  a 
respectable  contemporary  history,  we  may  be  sure 
that  such  a  fable  was  accepted  by  others  than  the 
most  ignorant.  Miracles  performed  in  Paris  itself 
are  vouched  for  by  a  lawyer  whose  intelligence  was 
acute,  and  whose  literary  culture  was  sufficient  to 
make  him  regarded  as  a  fit  candidate  for  the  French 
Academy.  A  woman  who  had  been  infirm  and  para- 
lyzed for  years  was  healed  of  her  malady  by  the  holy 
sacrament.  All  Paris,  we  are  told,  went  to  see  her, 
and  the  most  incredulous  believed  ;  a  hundred  wit- 
nesses attested  the  miracle  ;  the  Te  Deum  was  sung 
in  celebration  of  this  victory  of  the  faith;  it  was 
rumored  that  even  the  poet  Arouet,  the  future  Voltaire, 
had  seen  the  woman  and  declared  himself  converted.^ 
This  report  was  not  confirmed.  Some  claimed  that 
the  poet  had  indeed  been  converted  by  the  miracle, 
but  had  again  relapsed  into  his  skepticism.^ 

Though  Voltaire  was  still  a  young  man,  he  was 
already  a  well-known  character  at  Paris.  He  had  been 
one  of  the  victims  of  a  government  that  was  usually 
lenient.  In  1716,  when  he  was  only  twenty-two,  he 
was  exiled  for  a  year ;  in  1717,  partly  on  the  suspi- 
cion of  being  the  author  of  verses  written  by  some  one 
else,  and  partly  on  account  of  verses  which  he  had 
written  himself,  he  was  confined  in  the  Bastille.  He 
had  already  shown  that  he  had  alike  the  ability  and 
the  courage  to  say  very  disagreeable  things,  and  the 
government  made  no  mistake  in  treating  him  as  a  dan- 

^  MS.  Journal  de  la  Regence,  ii.  833. 

2  Journal  de  Marais,  iii.  192,  »  Ih.y  217. 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  553 

gerous  subject.  Voltaire's  imprisonment  did  not  oper- 
ate as  a  deterrent.  Immediately  after  his  release,  his 
play  of  "  CEdipe  "  was  produced.  The  enemies  of  the 
regent  claimed  to  find  in  the  piece  a  denunciation  of 
his  crimes;  Orleans  himself,  with  excellent  judgment, 
declined  to  recognize  the  allusion,  even  if  any  was  in- 
tended, and  he  applauded  the  play  as  vigorously  as  his 
critics.  Though  Voltaire  had  published  some  very  abu- 
sive verses  about  Orleans,  the  duke  showed  himself 
superior  to  resentment ;  he  admired  the  young  author's 
talents,  forgave  his  offenses,  and  gave  him  a  pension. 

The  literary  merits  of  Voltaire  attracted  attention, 
but  they  did  not  at  once  obtain  universal  recognition. 
St.  Simon,  naturally  enough,  was  offended  at  the 
notoriety  of  a  man  whose  birth,  he  thought,  should 
condemn  him  to  obscurity.  "  He  was  the  son  of  my 
father's  notary,"  he  writes,  "  whom  I  have  seen  many 
times  bringing  papers  to  be  signed  ;  but  he  could  do 
nothing  with  this  libertine  son.^  Arouet  was  prop- 
erly sent  into  exile,"  he  adds,  "  for  writing  most  impu- 
dent verses."  Marais,  who  had  better  literary  taste 
than  St.  Simon,  though  he  had  much  less  literary 
talent,  was  also  slow  to  recognize  the  genius  of  the 
young  man  who  was  so  much  talked  about.  We  may 
accept  what  he  said  as  a  pretty  just  index  of  contem- 
porary opinion  among  the  educated  classes.  Voltaire 
sought  to  pay  his  court  to  Dubois  by  comparing  him 
to  Richelieu,  with  an  insinuation  that  he  himself  occu- 
pied the  relative  position  of  Voiture.  "  He  was  bold 
enough  to  put  himself  on  a  level  with  Voiture,"  says 
Marais,  "  but  he  is  very  far  from  that."  ^  "  Voltaire 
is  a  fool,"  he  writes  later,  "  who  despises  Sophocles 
and  Corneille,  tries  to  be  a  member  of  the  court  and 

1  St,  Simon,  xiv.  10,  2  Journalj  September,  1722. 


654  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

gets  bastinadoed,  and  who  will  never  know  anything 
because  he  thinks  that  he  knows  it  all."  ^  But  Vol- 
taire's genius  triumphed  over  his  critics.  "  He  is  the 
greatest  poet  we  have,"  writes  Marais,  after  the  pro- 
duction of  "  Mariamne  "  in  1725. 

Voltaire's  reputation  was  not  sufficient  to  excite 
any  sympathy  for  his  misadventures.  "  He  has  gone 
to  Brussels  to  compare  notes  with  Rousseau  about  the 
whippings  administered  to  the  poets,"  says  Marais  in 
1722.2  For  men  of  letters  this  was  indeed,  as  has 
been  truly  said,  the  age  of  wood.  A  book  could  be 
written  on  the  corporal  punishments  inflicted  on  poets 
during  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Vol- 
taire was  the  chief  sufferer,  but  he  was  far  from  being 
the  only  one.  J.  B.  Rousseau  and  many  others  shared 
in  the  common  fate.  Such  summary  proceedings  were 
so  in  the  customs  of  the  time  that  no  one,  except  the 
sufferer,  was  at  all  disturbed  by  them.  When  Vol- 
taire received  his  famous  chastisement  by  the  order  of 
the  Chevalier  of  Rohan,  the  sentiments  of  one  of  the 
most  liberal  thinkers  of  the  day  led  him  to  no  more 
violent  censure  than  to  call  it  an  amusing  tragedy.^ 

Notwithstanding  these  misadventures,  the  influence 
of  the  regency  was  unquestionably  advantageous  to 
letters.  There  was  more  promise  for  literature  under 
the  regent,  when  writers  were  caned,  than  under  Louis 
XIV.,  when  they  were  pensioned.  Orleans  was  lib- 
eral to  writers  and  to  men  of  science,  but  he  allowed 
them  to  follow  their  own  inclinations  ;  he  rewarded 
those  who  displayed  talent,  and  not  those  who  be- 
stowed flattery.  In  thought,  as  in  trade,  the  breath  of 
freedom  was  allowed  to  fan  the  air,  and  lessened  the 

1  Marais,  December,  1722.  ^  Marais,  Journal,  ii.  358. 

8  Argenson,  i.  56* 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  655 

danger  of  sui5focation.  Under  Louis  XIV.,  Voltaire 
might  have  ended  his  days  in  the  Bastille  ;  but  quite 
as  probably  his  career  would  have  been  confined  to 
writing  stately  plays,  interspersed  with  judicious  praise 
of  the  great  monarch.  The  influence  of  English 
thought  upon  Voltaire  was  important ;  but  during  the 
eight  years  that  he  was  forming  his  character  and  his 
style,  he  could  have  found  no  better  intellectual  atmos- 
phere than  that  of  the  regency  of  Philip  of  Orleans. 

Dubois  appreciated  the  advantage  of  having  litera- 
ture on  the  side  of  the  government,  and  he  recognized 
also  the  form  which  would  now  be  most  effective  in 
France ;  he  tried  to  enlist  those  in  his  cause  who  were 
able  to  ridicule  their  adversaries.  The  different  spirit 
engendered  under  freer  modes  of  thought  was  reflected 
in  the  form  of  literature  ;  the  style  grew  lighter,  the 
sentences  became  shorter.  There  are  great  names  in 
the  French  literature  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but 
much  that  was  then  written  lacks  the  qualities  which 
now  seem  typical  of  French  style,  —  lightness  of  touch 
and  delicacy  of  expression.  Voltaire  said  that  the 
Jansenists  were  men  who  loved  long  sentences,  and 
they  were  by  no  means  the  only  offenders.  Dubois 
himself  exemplified  some  of  the  qualities  that  were 
becoming  predominant  in  French  literature.  Though 
we  can  find  much  in  his  enormous  diploaiatic  corre- 
spondence that  is  vulgar,  there  is  little  that  is  tedious. 
If  the  official  correspondence  under  Louis  XIV.  was 
always  dignified,  it  was  often  wearisome. 

Montesquieu  began  his  literary  career  during  the 
regency.  In  1721,  the  "  Persian  Letters  "  appeared,  a 
book  which  combined  literary  graces  that  delighted 
the  world  with  merciless  satire  of  many  of  the  defects 
of  government  and  society.     That  such  a  book  should 


556    FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

have  been  written,  that  it  should  have  freely  circu- 
lated and  have  been  prodigiously  admired,  shows  that 
the  regency  was  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  freer 
thought  in  France. 

Orleans  took  a  special  interest  in  another  phase  of 
intellectual  activity  which  was  destined  to  have  a 
greater  influence  upon  the  beliefs  and  conduct  of  man- 
kind than  the  writings  of  Voltaire  and  the  Encyclo- 
paedists. His  tastes  had  early  led  him  to  studies 
which,  if  they  were  not  very  scientific,  at  least  gave 
him  an  interest  in  what  science  might  accomplish.  He 
told  the  Academy  of  Science  that  the  secretaryship  for 
that  body  would  be  the  boon  which  he  should  demand 
of  Louis  XV.  when  the  king  attained  his  majority. 
He  established  an  academy  for  the  improvement  of 
the  implements  and  appliances  of  the  mechanical  arts. 
He  offered  a  liberal  pension  to  Reaumur,  whose  dis- 
coveries did  more  for  the  iron  and  steel  manufactures 
of  France  than  the  tariffs  of  Colbert.  The  influence 
of  scientific  and  economical  investigation  during  the 
century  was  as  important  as  that  of  pure  literature, 
and  such  studies  received  a  new  impetus  under  the 
regent.  They  were  the  more  important,  because  the 
French  mind  had  often  shown  an  invincible  prejudice 
against  new  ideas.  This  was  illustrated  not  only  by 
the  reception  given  to  the  discoveries  of  Newton,  but 
by  the  opposition  to  an  innovation  of  more  practi- 
cal interest  to  the  people  than  the  theory  of  gravita- 
tion. Inoculation  was  introduced  into  Europe  at  this 
period.  In  no  country  was  small-pox  a  more  terrible 
scourge  than  in  France.  It  was  equally  destructive  in 
the  highest  and  in  the  lowest  classes  of  society  ;  it 
claimed  as  many  victims  among  those  who  enjoyed 
comfort  and  luxury,  and  could  command  the  best  medi- 


TEE  CLOSE  OF  THE  REGENCY,  557 

cal  attendance,  as  among  those  who  had  neither  money 
nor  doctors.  In  no  country  was  the  means  of  preven- 
tion received  with  less  favor.  Medical  science  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  far  advanced  in  France ;  the 
College  of  Medicine  was  as  opposed  to  new  ideas  as 
the  College  of  the  Sorbonne  :  the  satires  of  Moliere  on 
the  doctors  were  not  wholly  undeserved.  The  medical 
profession  were  united  in  opposition  to  inoculation. 
Many  of  the  people  were  still  sufficiently  ignorant  to 
be  influenced  by  the  nonsense  talked  about  its  being 
impious.  The  Bourbons  were  the  last  royal  family  in 
Europe  to  adopt  the  use  of  inoculation,  and  this  was 
not  until  the  time  of  Louis  XVI. 

As  a  sign  of  the  conflicting  intellectual  tendencies 
during  the  regency,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
worship  of  the  Sacred  Heart  then  made  its  first  de- 
cided progress.  Marie  Alacoque  was  a  nun  at  Paray, 
whose  career  had  attracted  attention  under  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.  She  was  sickly  from  childhood,  and 
her  health  was  still  further  impaired  by  the  penances 
in  which  she  found  happiness.  She  fasted  constantly, 
slept  on  thorns,  flogged  herself  with  frenzy,  kept  her 
arms  heavily  chained  until  the  flesh  was  worn  away. 
To  live  without  torturing  herself  she  declared  to  be 
the  most  insupportable  of  tortures. 

These  excesses  in  a  young  girl,  weak  in  body  and 
mind,  naturally  resulted  in  visions  and  hallucinations. 
Marie's  thoughts  inclined  towards  the  passionate  ado- 
ration of  Christ,  as  a  person  as  well  as  a  God,  which 
not  unfrequently  appears  in  those  of  similar  temper- 
ament. She  was  favored  with  visions  of  Jesus,  and 
was  often  visited  by  an  angel  who  came  as  his  rep- 
resentative ;  she  was  joined  to  our  Lord  in  spiritual 
betrothal,  and  was   allowed  to  address  Him  as  her 


658  FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

spouse.  Her  affection  was  expressed  with  that  strange 
mingling  of  devotion  and  sensuality  that  is  found  in 
such  cases.  "  My  greatest  pleasure  would  be  to  love 
our  amiable  Saviour  with  a  love  as  ardent  as  that  of 
a  seraph,"  she  wrote.  "  I  would  be  well  content  in 
hell,  if  there  I  might  love  Him."  She  told  of  the 
tender  caresses  bestowed  upon  her  by  her  celestial 
spouse.  The  final  miracle  might  have  been  expected 
*  in  one  of  her  condition.  Christ  appeared  to  her,  took 
her  heart,  and  displayed  to  her  his  own.-  Another 
vision  immediately  afterwards  ordered  the  establish- 
ment of  a  special  worship  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and 
designated  the  day  to  be  set  apart  for  this  solemnity. 

The  visions  of  Marie  Alacoque  attracted  little  atten- 
tion in  the  convent  of  which  she  was  a  member.  They 
were  attributed  to  mental  disease,  rather  than  to 
divine  favor,  and  excited  only  the  contempt  of  most 
of  those  to  whom  they  were  related.  A  Jesuit  priest, 
who  had  been  Marie's  confidant,  first  undertook  to 
establish  upon  the  basis  of  these  hallucinations  the 
worship  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  Jesuits  as  a  body 
adopted  this  idea,  and  pressed  it  with  the  vigor  and 
the  pertinacity  of  that  famous  order. 

A  terrible  calamity  which  now  visited  France  as- 
sisted their  endeavors.  In  1720,  Marseilles  and  some 
of  the  other  cities  of  Provence  were  devastated  by  the 
plague,  to  which  they  were  exposed  periodically  by 
filth  and  the  lack  of  sanitary  measures.  Nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  persons  died.  The  afflicted  cities 
suffered  all  the  misery  which  such  pestilences  bring 
in  their  train.  Amid  panic,  consternation,  and  de- 
spair, the  Bishop  of  Marseilles  distinguished  himself 
by  heroic  devotion  to  the  care  of  the  suffering  and 
the  dying.     The  fame  of  his  Christian  zeal  spread  to 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY,  559  . 

other  lands,  and  is  celebrated  by  Pope.^  He  was  an 
earnest  friend  of  the  Jesuits,  and  during  this  season 
of  pestilence  he  sought  Heaven's  succor  by  solemnly 
dedicating  his  diocese  to  the  devotion  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  The  innovation  met  with  strenuous  opposi- 
tion in  France,  but  the  untiring  zeal  of  its  advocates 
secured  its  triumph.  The  canonization  of  Marie  Ala- 
coque  was  demanded,  as  the  official  ratification  of  the 
devotion  of  which  she  had  been  the  first  exponent.  It 
was  refused.  When  the  order  of  the  Jesuits  was  dis- 
solved in  the  last  century,  the  prospect  of  success 
seemed  hopeless.  But  those  who  had  undertaken  the 
task  were  not  the  men  to  abandon  it ;  in  1864,  the 
beatification  of  Marie  Alacoque  by  Pius  IX.  closed 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  struggle  with  victory ; 
it  added  another  to  the  long  list  of  triumphs  of  Jesuit 
over  Jansenist  principles  in  the  Catholic  Church .^ 

The  growth  of  Paris  went  on  during  the  regency  at 
accelerated  speed.  This  was  sought  to  be  checked  by 
legislative  enactment:  an  edict  declared  that  Paris 
was  becoming  too  large,  communication  was  difficult, 
and  effective  police  measures  were  impossible ;  any 
further  increase  in  population  must  result  in  the  ruin 
of  the  city.^  Limits  were  fixed  beyond  which  it  must 
not  grow  ;  they  were  as  little  regarded  as  those  which 
had  been  established  by  similar  legislation  in  the 
past.  Causes  more  efficacious  than  any  edicts  order- 
ing them  to  stay  away  were  operating  to  lead  people 

1  «  Why  drew  Marseilles'  good  bishop  purer  breath, 
When  nature  sickened  and  each  gale  was  death  ?  " 
2  The  Histoire  de  la   hienheureuse   Marguerite  Marie,  by  the 
Vicar-General  of  Orleans,  in  1874,  gives  an  account  of  the  life 
of  Marie  Alacoque  which  is  interesting  for  many  reasons. 
2  Anc,  Lois  Frangaises,  xxi.  273,  1724. 


560         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY. 

to  Paris.  Thousands  had  been  lured  there  by  the 
Mississippi  speculation,  and  many  of  them  remained. 
The  city  furnished,  in  increasing  degree,  the  two  chief 
inducements  which  draw  people  to  great  centres :  busi- 
ness was  more  active,  and  there  was  more  opportunity 
for  gain;  pleasures  of  every  sort,  operas,  theatres, 
balls,  flourished  during  the  regency,  and  there  was  more 
opportunity  for  amusement.  While  the  attractions 
which  Paris  offered  were  thus  augmented,  the  facili- 
ties for  reaching  the  city  were  also  increased.  The 
beginning  was  made  of  that  system  of  thoroughly 
constructed  roads  which  excited  Arthur  Young's  ad- 
miration. The  first  paved  highway  from  Paris  to 
Rheims  was  constructed  for  the  coronation  of  Louis 
XV. ;  the  journey  of  the  young  king  from  the  capi- 
tal to  the  place  where  he  was  to  be  crowned  brought 
prosperity  in  its  wake.  Canals  were  enlarged,  new 
bridges  were  built  and  old  ones  repaired. 

These  improvements  were  of  advantage  to  all,  but 
they  tended  especially  to  augment  the  population  and 
influence  of  Paris.  The  growth  of  centres  depends 
upon  the  facility  with  which  they  can  be  reached. 
Good  roads  increase  the  volume  of  trade,  which  seeks 
a  large  market ;  increasing  business  brings  an  increas- 
ing population.  When  means  of  communication  were 
as  imperfect  as  in  France  during  the  feudal  period, 
the  cities  were  proportionately  small ;  they  increased 
in  size  as  a  journey  to  them  involved  less  of  risk, 
fatigue,  and  expense. 

The  growth  of  Paris  was  a  fact  of  political  and  of 
social  significance.  As  communication  between  the 
capital  and  the  rest  of  France  became  more  rapid  and 
more  frequent,  it  could  exercise  an  influence  which 
would  have  been  impossible  a  century  before  ;  the  tran- 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  561 

qinllity  of  the  provinces  was  disturbed  by  the  unrest 
of  the  city.  French  history  for  centuries  exhibited 
the  spectacle  of  the  steady  development  of  the  monarch- 
ical power.  One  can  trace,  with  almost  the  same  dis- 
tinctness, the  increase  in  the  influence  of  Paris  upon 
the  rest  of  the  kingdom  during  the  three  centuries 
preceding  the  Revolution.  So  important  has  been 
the  effect,  both  intellectual  and  political,  which  the 
life  of  this  great  city  has  produced  upon  France  and 
upon  Europe,  that  this  change  is,  in  some  respects,  as 
worthy  of  attention  as  the  development  of  the  mon- 
archy. In  1721,  the  population  of  Paris  was  esti- 
mated at  800,000  people.^  This  estimate  was  too 
large,  but  that  city  probably  contained  one  thirtieth 
of  the  population  of  France  ;  four  centuries  before, 
less  than  one  fiftieth  of  the  entire  population  lived  in 
Paris ;  it  now  has  about  one  fifteenth. 

Paris  increased  in  attractiveness  as  well  as  ii\  size, 
and  this  change  produced  important  social  results. 
Under  Louis  XIV.,  Versailles  had  been  the  centre  of 
French  life  ;  society  and  literature  were  subject  to  the 
influence  of  the  court ;  the  atmosphere  of  Versailles 
affected  every  phase  of  French  art  and  thought.  This 
ceased  to  be  the  case  under  the  regency.  Versailles 
lost  the  position  of  influence  which  it  had  held,  and 
this  was  never  regained.  Under  Louis  XV.  and 
Louis  XVL  that  palace  was  again  the  ordinary  resi- 
dence of  the  king,  but  it  was  no  longer  regarded  as 
the  most  charming  spot  in  the  world.  Paris  was  now 
thought,  by  those  of  every  class,  to  possess  greater 
attractions.  During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  ex- 
istence of  a  great  noble  was  passed  in  the  society  of 
the  monarch  ;  he  heard  nothing  and  was  interested 
1.  MSS.  cited  in  Mem,  des  Intendants,  GeneralUe  de  Paris, 


662    FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY: 

in  nothing  outside  of  the  court  circle  ;  Parisian  soci- 
ety was  abandoned  to  lawyers  and  bourgeois.  But 
under  Louis  XV.  the  descendants  of  tliose  who  had 
spent  their  lives  following  the  great  monarch  through 
the  halls  and  gardens  of  Versailles  found  their  chief 
amusement  in  Parisian  salons.  There  they  met  with 
men  of  every  class,  —  with  those  who  were  famous  in 
literature  and  science  and  art,  with  those  who  had 
new  views  to  advance  and  new  policies  to  advocate. 
The  best  music  was  now  to  be  heard  at  Paris  ;  the 
best  theatrical  performances  relied  on  popular  sup- 
port, instead  of  on  the  patronage  of  the  monarch  or 
of  some  great  nobleman ;  writers  no  longer  measured 
their  success  by  the  favor  they  obtained  at  court.  The 
regent  did  much  to  make  the  capital  attractive ;  it 
was  his  favorite  residence;  he  preferred  the  excite- 
ment of  new  ideas  to  the  courtly  platitudes  of  Ver- 
sailles. The  example  set  by  Orleans  was  followed 
during  the  century.  The  liberal  spirit  which  appeared 
in  many  of  the  aristocracy  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury must  be  attributed  to  the  change  in  their  modes 
of  life.  They  were  affected  by  ideas  which  would 
never  have  found  entrance  in  a  comparatively  small 
and  restricted  circle,  like  that  which  had  gathered 
about  Louis  XIV.  The  results  of  such  a  change  were 
to  modify  the  views  of  many  of  those  of  the  highest 
rank,  to  make  philosophers  of  nobles  and  republicans 
of  aristocrats,  to  add  to  the  fascination  of  Parisian 
life,  and  to  extend  the  influence  of  Parisian  thought. 
There  was  ground,  however,  for  the  complaint  that 
the  size  of  Paris  furnished  facilities  for  crime,  and  ren- 
dered the  police  inefficient.  Certainly  it  was  possible  to 
maintain  good  order  in  the  city,  but  not  with  the  sys- 
tem which  was  in  force.    A  great  city,  whose  guardians 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  563 

were  scattered  and  whose  streets  were  dimly  lighted, 
offered  numerous  opportunities  for  the  burglar  and 
the  assassin.  The  influx  of  great  numbers  of  men  in 
search  of  fortune  during  the  Mississippi  excitement,  and 
the  desperate  condition  in  which  many  were  left  at  the 
end  of  that  speculation,  increased  the  amount  of  crime. 

One  criminal  succeeded  in  attracting  the  special 
attention  of  the  community.  We  may  still  speak, 
without  impropriety,  of  the  famous  Cartouche,  who 
gained  for  himself  a  name  like  that  of  his  English 
contemporary,  Jonathan  Wild.  His  talents  devel- 
oped early,  and  when  he  was  little  over  twenty  the 
thought  of  Cartouche  excited  consternation  in  all  who 
had  anything  that  it  was  worth  while  to  steal.  Twice 
he  was  arrested,  and  succeeded  in  making  his  escape. 
Large  rewards  were  offered  for  his  apprehension,  but 
there  were  few  who  cared  to  risk  an  encounter  with 
a  man  whose  courage  and  strength  were  proverbial. 
The  success  of  his  exploits  and  his  long  immunity  in- 
vested him  with  a  halo  of  romance  ;  he  had  large  bands 
of  followers,  and  some  young  gentlemen  were  tempted 
to  ally  their  fortunes  with  those  of  this  hero  of  crime. 

Cartouche  began  life  as  a  Parisian  gamin  ;  a  few 
years  spent  with  a  band  of  gypsies  helped  to  develop 
the  address,  both  of  body  and  mind,  which  made  him 
a  leader  among  his  associates.  He  was  for  a  while  a 
soldier,  and,  in  those  days  of  imperfect  discipline  and 
irregular  pay,  that  career  often  proved  the  training 
for  a  criminal.  Cartouche  utilized  the  results  of  his 
military  education  ;  he  organized  a  body  of  followers, 
both  male  and  female,  among  whom  he  preserved  a 
sort  of  irregular  discipline.  Their  crimes  soon  filled 
Paris  with  consternation.  The  era  of  Law  furnished 
unusual  opportunities  for  their  operations,  and  Car- 


564  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

touclie  and  his  followers  lived  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 
He  appeared  in  innumerable  disguises,  and  of  the 
many  stories  of  his  exploits  under  the  guise  of  a  man 
of  fashion  some  are  probably  true.  A  man  who  was 
robbed  on  his  way  to  a  dinner  party,  when  he  at  last 
reached  his  destination,  recognized  two  of  his  assail- 
ants among  the  guests.  The  captain  of  the  band 
adopted  rules  of  courtesy  for  his  troop  :  they  were 
forbidden  to  kill,  unless  it  was  necessary  in  their  own 
defense  ;  those  who  had  been  once  robbed  were  fur- 
nished with  cards  which  secured  them  immunity  in 
the  future ;  articles  taken  which  were  valuable  to  the 
owner,  but  could  not  be  sold  by  the  robbers,  were 
promptly  and  politely  returned. 

Cartouche  extended  the  sphere  of  his  operations 
beyond  Paris.  He  sent  his  lieutenants  to  meet  the 
ambassador  of  the  Great  Turk,  and  they  robbed  him 
of  part  of  his  treasure  ;  others  attacked  the  stage- 
coach coming  from  Lyons,  and  obtained  an  enormous 
plunder.  The  fame  of  Cartouche  became  legendary 
in  Paris  ;  some  even  said  that  there  was  no  such  man. 
His  name  was  called  in  court  on  the  charge  of  some 
crime ;  some  one  in  the  crowd  cried  out,  "  Present !  " 
and'  most  of  the  audience  at  once  took  to  flight. 

Sooner  or  later,  treachery  checks  the  career  of  many 
illustrious  men,  and  so  it  was  with  Cartouche.  In 
October,  1721,  a  soldier,  who  was  one  of  his  accom- 
plices, agreed  to  show  the  place  where  he  was  con- 
cealed. Forty  men,  known  for  their  courage,  un- 
dertook the  task  of  capturing  the  criminal.  They 
succeeded  in  surprising  him  in  his  bed.  Six  loaded 
'  pistols  were  on  the  table  near  by,  but  he  was  seized 
and  bound  before  he  could  make  use  of  them. 

The  news  of  this  arrest  caused  much  excitement  in 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  565 

Paris.  In  one  respect  the  great  robber  was  a  disap- ' 
pointment,  for  he  proved  to  be  an  exceptionally  small 
man.  Cartouche,  like  Louis  XIV.,  was  not  so  tall  as 
he  had  seemed.  A  play  describing  his  exploits  was 
at  once  composed,  and  was  acted  at  the  Fran9ais  for 
thirteen  nights.  It  had  a  prodigious  success.  All 
Paris  flocked  to  see  it.  Cartouche  himself  narrowly 
missed  an  opportunity  to  watch  the  spectacle  of  his 
own  exploits.  He  had  been  confined  in  the  Chatelet, 
and  he  succeeded  in  removing  a  stone,  and  making 
his  way  by  means  of  the  fosse  into  the  cellar  of  a 
little  shop.  But  fortune  had  deserted  her  former 
favorite.  A  little  dog  heard  the  noise,  began  a  furi- 
ous barking,  and  roused  every  one  in  the  house.  Some 
soldiers  were  near  by,  heard  the  disturbance,  entered, 
and  stumbled  on  Cartouche,  who  had  not  been  able  to 
strike  off  the  chains  on  his  hands  and  legs.  He  was 
again  confined,  and  was  chained  with  such  severity 
that  escape  was  impossible. 

The  torture  was  still  used  in  France  in  trials  where 
the  punishment  might  be  death.  As  death  could  be 
inflicted  for  almost  every  crime,  torture  was  applied 
with  frequency.  Cartouche  was  kept  on  the  rack  for 
several  hours.  He  bore  the  pain  manfully,  and  refused 
to  disclose  the  names  of  his  accomplices.  He  was  sen- 
tenced to  death.  When  he  reached  the  place  of  exe- 
cution, either  his  courage  failed  him,  or  he  was  disap- 
pointed because  there  were  no  signs  that  his  followers 
intended  to  attempt  a  rescue.  He  offered  to  confess,  and 
obtained  a  short  reprieve.  He  disclosed  the  detail  of 
innumerable  robberies  and  some  murders,  and  he  gave 
the  names  of  a  long  list  of  accomplices.  Whether 
his  confession  had  been  the  result  of  weakness  or  of 
spite,  it  gained  him  only  a  few  hours  of  life.     An  ira- 


666  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

mense  crowd  had  long  been  gathered  at  the  Place  de 
Greve  to  see  the  end  of  the  famous  criminal.  Some 
waited  there  forty-eight  hours,  eating  on  the  spot,  lest 
they  should  chance  to  lose  the  spectacle.  At  last  Car- 
touche was  brought  to  the  place  of  execution,  where 
he  was  broken  alive  on  the  wheel.  The  severe  torture 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  had  one  merciful 
effect :  he  soon  expired  on  the  wheel. 

The  trial  of  his  accomplices  long  occupied  the  at- 
tention of  the  courts.  Nearly  four  hundred  were  tried 
on  the  charge  of  being  his  followers.  His  brother, 
who  was  only  fifteen,  died  under  the  torture.  Great 
numbers,  both  of  men  and  women,  were  hung  or 
broken  on  the  wheel.  Ghastly  sights  were  furnished, 
with  the  hope  of  inculcating  the  fear  of  the  law  in 
the  Parisian  youth.  At  the  end  of  the  Pont  Neuf ,  the 
centre  of  Parisian  life  and  business,  corpses  could  fre- 
quently be  seen  dangling  in  the  air.  Many  were  hung 
by  night.  Long  processions  of  men  with  flambeaux 
marched  through  the  streets,  leading  the  criminals, 
who  were  executed  by  the  wavering  light  of  the 
torches.  The  sight  was  more  horrible  than  by  day, 
and  was  probably  thought  to  be  a  better  deterrent  of 
crime.  Two  of  these  ghastly  processions,  writes  a  cit- 
izen, went  by  his  house  in  one  evening.^ 

The  majority  of  Louis  XV.  brought  no  change  in 
the  government  of  the  state.  Orleans  resigned  his 
power  into  the  hands  of  the  young  king.  He  could 
justly  claim  that  he  had  preserved  order  and  avoided 

^  Barbier,  January,  1722.  The  details  about  Cartouche  and 
his  accomplices  are  found  in  the  journals  of  Barbier,  Buvat, 
and  Marais,  and  in  his  own  confession.  The  Gazette  of  Paris 
has  something  on  the  subject,  but  newspapers  in  those  days  did 
not  deserve  the  name. 


THE  CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY.  567 

war,  and  that  he  resigned  his  charge  leaving  France 
at  peace  with  all  the  world.  If  any  refutation  were 
needed  of  the  odious  and  absurd  calumnies  which  ac- 
cused Orleans  of  having  murdered  his  kinsman,  *and 
of  seeking  to  win  a  crown  by  the  arts  of  a  poisoner, 
the  fact  that  the  young  prince,  whose  life  alone  stood 
between  him  and  the  throne,  reached  iis  majority  in 
health  and  vigor  was  the  most  convincing  proof  of 
their  falsity. 

Orleans  was  always  courteous  and  respectful  to  his 
ward,  and  Louis  seems  to  have  been  attached  to  him, 
so  far  as  he  was  capable  of  being  attached  to  any  one. 
The  duke  remained  at  the  head  of  the  government,  and 
exercised  practically  the  same  authority  after  Louis's 
majority  that  he  had  possessed  as  regent.  Dubois 
was  retained  in  his  position  as  prime  minister,  but  his 
tenure  of  power  was  brief.  His  health  had  long  been 
impaired,  and  he  was  now  failing  rapidly.  In  the 
summer  of  1723,  he  was  assured  that  his  only  chance 
of  life  was  to  submit  to  a  severe  and  dangerous  opera- 
tion. It  was  with  reluctance  that  he  consented  to 
this,  and  he  was  even  less  docile  to  those  who  offered 
religious  succor  for  the  peril  which  impended.  His 
attendants  wished  that  he  should  receive  the  viaticum 
before  the  operation  was  performed,  but  the  cardinal 
was  tenacious  to  the  end  for  all  that  belonged  to  the 
rank  which  he  had  attained  at  the  cost  of  such  pain- 
ful struggles.  He  said  that  there  was  a  special  cer- 
emonial for  cardinals,  and  he  would  receive  the  sac- 
rament in  no  other  way.  There  was  no  one  at  hand 
sufficiently  learned  in  these  matters  to  know  what 
ceremonies  were  required  for  persons  of  this  dignity, 
and  the  sacrament  was  not  administered.^  The  doc- 
1  Dis,  Ven.,  148,  212. 


568         FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

tors  of  his  physical  ills  had  no  better  success :  an 
operation  was  performed,  but  it  was  too  late  to  be 
of  service ;  the  cardinal  died  a  few  hours  afterwards, 
on  %he  10th  of  August,  1723,  only  two  years  after  his 
promotion  to  the  cardinalate,  and  one  year  after  he 
had  attained  the  position  of  prime  minister  of  France. 
He  was  sixty-six  years  old. 

There  was  much  that  was  sordid  and  ignoble  in 
Dubois's  character,  but  this  was  overshadowed  by  his 
qualities  as  a  statesman,  and  by  the  advantages  for 
France  of  the  policy  which  he  adopted.  The  news 
of  his  death  was  received  with  pleasure  by  the  court, 
and  without  regret  by  the  people  ;  the  same  thing 
could  be  said  of  the  deaths  of  Richelieu  and  Maza- 
rin  and  Colbert ;  yet  each  of  them  had  done  great 
things  for  France.  Even  those  who  bore  no  love  for 
Dubois  were  forced  to  admit  that  in  his  high  position 
he  had  wasted  no  time  on  sensual  pleasures  ;  that  he 
had  shortened  his  life  by  unremitting  labor ;  that  he 
had  tolerated  neither  fools  nor  flatterers ;  that  he  had 
secured  peace  for  France ;  and  that  her  position  in 
Europe  was  more  influential  when  the  apothecary's 
son  died,  than  it  had  been  at  the  death  of  Louis  the 
Great.  The  price  of  stocks  fell  when  Dubois's  death 
was  announced,  and  those  who  had  hated  him  most 
acknowledged  their  apprehensions  of  the  grave  com- 
plications that  might  ensue  in  Europe.^ 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  assumed  the  position  which 
the  death  of  Dubois  left  vacant.  He  felt,  perhaps, 
some  relief  at  being  freed  from  a  minister  whose  in- 

^  See  journals  of  Marais  and  Barbier  and  the  MS.  dispatches 
of  the  Venetian  ambassador  for  these  expressions  of  public  feel- 
ing. They  were  all  unfriendly  to  Dubois,  and  we  may  accept 
what  they  say  in  his  favor  without  fear  of  exaggeration. 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  REGENCY,  569 

fluence  had  grown  to  be  oppressive,  but  his  own  ten- 
ure of  office  was  not  long  enough  to  produce  any- 
important  results.  His  health  had  long  been  declin- 
ing ;  years  of  profligacy  had  undermined  a  good  con- 
stitution, and  had  dulled  an  acute  intellect.  The 
duke  would  make  no  change  in  his  habits  of  life  ;  they 
had  become  so  inveterate  that  probably  he  had  not  the 
power  to  alter  them,  even  if  he  had  the  desire.  Less 
than  four  months  after  Dubois's  death  Orleans  was 
stricken  by  apoplexy  and  died  suddenly.  He  was 
only  forty-nine  years  of  age.  He  had  persisted  in 
excesses,  the  results  of  which  he  knew  would  soon  be 
fatal,  until  one  could  almost  call  his  death  a  case  of 
suicide. 

The  character  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  appears 
plainly  enough  in  the  record  of  his  life  and  of  his 
administration.  Both  the  one  and  the  other  were 
marked  by  grievous  errors.  An  intellect  of  uncommon 
acuteness,  enlightened  desires  for  the  public  welfare, 
a  breadth  of  view  which  was  rare  in  public  men,  were 
rendered  of  little  value  to  the  world  by  incurable 
weaknesses  of  character.  Notwithstanding  this,  the 
regency  was  a  period  whose  importance  in  French  his- 
tory was  out  of  proportion  to  the  few  years  which  it 
lasted,  and  to  the  paucity  of  actual  results  which  were 
then  accomplished.  The  form  of  government  under- 
went no  important  change  :  the  treatment  of  religious 
questions  was  almost  the  same  when  Orleans  died  as 
when  he  assumed  power ;  the  efforts  of  Law  to  build 
up  a  new  commercial  system  resulted  in  bankruptcy ; 
the  reforms  which  the  regent  had  planned  he  did  not 
accomplish.  But  the  political  system  of  France  was 
to  be  altered,  not  by  the  act  of  the  governors,  but  by 
the  act  of  the  governed.     Changes  in  religious,  social. 


570         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

and  economical  beliefs  were  the  things  of  most  impor- 
tance in  French  history,  as  in  all  history. 

It  is  here  that  we  must  find  the  influence  of  the  re- 
gency on  the  development  of  France  during  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  If  the  form  of  government  was  the 
same  at  the  end  of  that  period  as  at  the  beginning, 
the  intellectual  atmosphere  had  changed ;  if  industrial 
and  financial  experiments  had  resulted  in  failure,  the 
way  was  prepared  for  attempts  which  should  be  more 
successful.  Eight  years  constitute  a  brief  period  in 
history,  but  eight  years,  during  which  attention  was 
turned  toward  the  benefits  that  might  result  from 
modifications  of  existing  conditions,  were  not  without 
value  to  the  world.  If  men  could  be  left  free  to  think 
for  themselves,  it  was  of  little  importance  that  they 
could  not  as  yet  turn  their  thoughts  into  action  ;  the 
time  for  that  was  sure  to  come :  if  the  idea  could  find 
lodgment  that  the  object  of  society  was  to  seek  for 
future  development  instead  of  to  preserve  intact  the 
heritage  of  the  past,  it  was  of  small  importance  that 
the  States  General  were  not  yet  convened,  or  that  re- 
ligious persecutions  were  still  allowed ;  the  time  was 
sure  to  come  when  the  representatives  of  the  people 
would  be  summoned,  and  when  bigotry  would  cease  to 
flourish. 

The  years  of  Louis  XY.'s  minority  saw  the  begin- 
ning of  the  intellectual  changes  that,  within  seventy 
years,  were  to  alter  the  government  of  France  and  the 
condition  of  the  French  people.  His  reign  continued 
for  half  a  century  longer ;  at  the  end  of  that  period 
French  institutions  were  still  nominally  unaltered,  but 
such  modifications  had  taken  place  in  political  beliefs 
and  in  the  conceptions  of  society  and  government,  the 
demand  for  measures  which  should  insure  more  equal 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE  REGENCY.  571 

rights,  greater  mate  rial*  prosperity,  and  greater  intel- 
lectual freedom  had  so  increased,  that  it  was  apparent 
that  the  old  regime  was  soon  to  be  succeeded  by  a 
new  and  a  very  different  political  system.  Whatever 
France  was  to  become  in  the  future,  it  was  plain  that 
she  would  never  again  be  the  France  of  Louis  XIVo 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   MORALS   OF   THE   REGENCY. 

The  regency  of  Philip  of  Orleans  is  stigmatized  as 
a  period  when  morality  was  at  the  lowest  ebb,  when 
vice  no  longer  paid  to  virtue  the  tribute  of  hypocrisy, 
when  the  austerity  of  the  close  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign 
was  succeeded  by  avowed  infidelity  and  unblushing 
debauchery.  That  it  was  an  era  of  profligacy,  no  one 
can  question.  The  dissipation  of  the  regency  was  vul- 
gar and  unabashed ;  it  was  more  offensive  in  its  mani- 
festations than  any  which  existed  under  Louis  XIV. 
Vice  may  be  said  to  have  paraded  itself  with  flags 
flying  and  trumpets  blowing.  But  the  moral  decline 
was  less  abrupt  than  is  supposed ;  this  epoch  was  con- 
demned with  unexampled  severity,  not  merely  because 
profligacy  was  extreme,  but  because  the  public  was 
less  inclined  to  pardon  it.  This  was  not  altogether  a 
sign  of  moral  decadence.  The  virulence  of  contem- 
porary criticism  showed  that  the  nation  no  longer  re- 
garded the  immorality  of  its  rulers  as  a  matter  which 
it  had  no  right  to  consider,  or  that  it  was  bound  to 
condone. 

The  volume  of  epigrams,  libels,  and  abusive  verses 
during  the  few  years  of  the  regency  is  enormous.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  an  age  of  unsparing  criticism 
of  institutions  long  deemed  too  sacred  for  discussion. 
Those  who  suffered  from  it  appealed  to  considera- 
tions which  had  once  been  efficacious.     The  regent's 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.        573 

daughter  was  among  the  most  immoral  of  an  immoral 
age.  She  demanded  freedom  from  criticism  as  well 
as  from  restraint ;  the  conduct  of  the  great,  she  de- 
clared, was  not  to  be  discussed  by  the  vulgar ;  a  sacred 
prerogative  was  violated  when  a  gazetteer  could  ques- 
tion the  behavior  of  a  princess  of  the  blood. ^ 

Scandal  of  magnates  was  regarded  in  every  land  as  . 
an  offense  peculiarly  heinous  in  its  nature.  Though 
the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  indifferent  to  many  things, 
he  was  vigorous  in  his  endeavors  to  check  public  criti- 
cism on  the  administration  of  which  he  was  the  head. 
Commitments  to  the  Bastille  were  less  frequent  under 
the  mild  rule  of  the  regent  than  under  the  inquisi- 
torial tyranny  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  we  still  find  many 
persons  confined  there  upon  the  charge  of  spreading 
scandalous  reports.^  These  efforts  at  repression  failed. 
The  regency  was  declared  to  be  an  era  of  vice  by  those 
who  lived  under  it,  as  well  as  by  those  who  came  after- 
wards. In  considering  the  morality  or  immorality  of 
the  period,  we  must  remember  that  criticism  was  freer 
than  it  had  been,  and  that  the  people  who  speak  ill  of 
themselves  are  not  always  worse  than  their  neighbors. 

The  debauches  of  the  Palais  Royal,  the  scandals  of 
St.  Cloud  and  the  Luxembourg,  did  not  suddenly  ap^ 
pear  in  a  society  where  had  existed  only  religious  zeal 
and  domestic  purity.  To  be  sure  of  this,  one  needs 
only  to  study  the  preceding  reign.  During  the  dis- 
turbances of  the  Fronde,  immorality  had  flourished 
undisguised  and  unrebukedo  In  the  career  of  the 
beautiful  and  charming  women  of  that  period,  and  of 
the  lovers  who  followed  them  from  the  party  of  the 
Parliament  to  the  party  of  Mazarin  and  back  again, 

1  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  xvi.  280,  281. 

2  See  Archives  de  la  Bastille f  t.  xiii. 


574  FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY, 

we  search  in  vain  for  either  conjugal  or  political  fidel- 
ity. The  cardinal  who  ruled  the  nation  made  firm  his 
hold  on  power  by  becoming  the  lover  of  the  queen ; 
the  cardinal  who  led  the  opposition  displayed  his  con- 
tempt for  every  law  of  morality. 

The  license  of  the  Fronde  was  succeeded  by  the 
more  orderly  government  of  Louis  XIV.  It  was  long, 
however,  before  that  monarch  abandoned  the  follies 
of  youth  for  the  decorum  of  age.  The  example  of  the 
sovereign,  in  his  early  years,  was  followed  by  the  so- 
ciety of  which  he  was  the  centre.  There  were  abun- 
dant reasons  for  this,  apart  from  the  tendency  to  imi- 
tate the  conduct  of  the  monarch.  In  a  constantly 
increasing  degree,  Versailles  and  Paris  absorbed  the 
existence  of  all  of  eminent  rank,  whose  wealth  enabled 
them  to  share  in  the  pleasures  of  the  court  and  the 
metropolis.  The  life  of  the  higher  classes  was  one  in 
which  frivolity  and  dissipation  were  sure  to  flourish. 
For  the  most  of  them,  an  active  political  career  was 
impossible ;  they  were  no  longer  feudal  lords  ;  they 
had  neither  capacity  nor  taste  for  the  role  of  the  Eng- 
lish aristocracy;  prejudices  of  caste  kept  them  from 
joining  in  the  occupations  of  ordinary  mortals ;  trade 
was  debasing ;  the  study  of  law,  or  medicine,  or  science 
was  beneath  them.  There  remained  only  a  career  of 
pleasure,  and,  where  amusement  is  the  employment, 
dissipation  is  a  sure  attendant.  The  occupation  of  a 
courtier  of  Louis  XIV.  was  to  make  himself  agreeable 
to  the  king ;  the  card  table  furnished  him  excitement, 
and  illicit  love  recreation. 

Later  in  his  career  the  monarch  abandoned  pleasure 
for  piety ;  those  who  sought  his  favor  must  be  sound 
in  theology,  regular  at  mass,  and  decent  in  conduct. 
But  this  outward  decorum  was  not  always  accompanied 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         575 

by  inward  regeneration.  The  Princess  Palatine  de- 
clared that  he  who  acted  the  devot  at  Versailles  played 
the  atheist  when  he  could  escape  to  Paris. ^  In  the 
princess,  Germanic  virtue  was  accompanied  by  a  tongue 
prone  to  speak  evil.  Yet,  though  we  may  abate  some- 
what the  charges  of  one  whose  speech  was  vulgar  and 
whose  taste  for  nastiness  was  insatiable,  her  testimony 
agrees  with  that  of  others  as  to  the  social  condition  of 
the  later  years  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign.  "  Love  in  mar- 
riage," she  wrote,  in  1697,  "  is  no  longer  a  la  moder 
Later  she  said :  "  One  still  finds  happy  families  among 
those  of  inferior  condition,  but  among  people  of  quality 
I  do  not  know  a  single  example  of  mutual  affection 
and  fidelity."  2 

Of  excessive  gambling  and  immoderate  drinking, 
as  well  as  of  license  in  the  relations  of  the  sexes,  there 
are  innumerable  instances  in  contemporary  records. 
"I  confess  to  you,"  wrote  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  in 
1707,  "  that  the  women  of  this  period  are  insupporta- 
ble to  me  ;  their  senseless  and  immodest  dress,  their 
tobacco,  their  wine,  their  gormandizing,  their  slothful- 
ness,  all  this  I  cannot  suffer."  ^  The  Duke  of  Orleans 
began  his  career  of  profligacy  when  he  was  a  lad,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before  the  death  of  Louis  XIV. 
The  duke  was  the  profligate  son  of  a  profligate  sire ; 
his  dissipation  was  more  vociferous,  but  it  was  less 
odious.  The  Duchess  of  Berry  was  as  brazenly  im- 
moral while  her  great-uncle  was  alive  as  after  he  was 
dead.  She  was  occasionally  summoned  before  the  sov- 
ereign to  receive  his  rebuke,  and  even  her  audacity 
failed  in  that  awful  presence.  But  she  was  never  suffi- 
ciently frightened  to  make  any  efforts  at  reformation. 

1  Letter  of  July  21,  1699.  2  Letter  of  August  16,  1721. 

3  Maintenon  to  Ursins,  letters  of  June  5  and  12,  1707. 


576    FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

At  last  the  great  monarch  died.  The  results  of 
narrow  bigotry  and  of  unwholesome  social  conditions 
could  develop  themselves,  unrestrained  by  the  checks 
of  decorum  which  he  had  imposed.  The  new  head  of 
the  government  was  by  no  means  the  most  depraved 
or  the  most  vicious  of  rulers,  but  he  was  indifferent 
alike  as  to  his  own  conduct  and  that  of  others. 

It  should  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans that  he  never  allowed  the  irregularities  of  his 
private  life  to  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  state.  He 
was  surrounded  by  a  coterie  of  roues  and  dissolute 
women,  who  were  the  companions  of  his  pleasures,  but 
they  soon  found  that  it  was  impossible  to  gain  political 
influence  from  such  relations.  The  regent  gave  lav- 
ishly to  his  associates  ;  many  a  pretty  face  reaped  a 
handsome  profit  from  the  pardon  of  some  contractor 
or  speculator,  upon  whom  the  government  had  levied 
a  great  fine ;  but  Orleans  was  never  so  intoxicated 
that  he  babbled  secrets  of  state  to  his  boon  compan- 
ions ;  he  was  never  so  infatuated  by  a  beautiful  wo- 
man that  he  allowed  her  to  choose  his  ministers  or 
dictate  his  policy.  A  favorite  once  ventured  to  trans- 
gress the  rule,  and  sought  to  pry  into  state  secrets. 
"  Look  in  your  glass  and  see  if  so  pretty  a  face  was 
made  to  talk  politics,"  was  the  only  reply.  France 
during  the  regency  witnessed  no  such  shameful  period 
as  the  rule  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour. 

The  time  of  the  regent  was  divided  between  his  du- 
ties and  his  pleasures  with  undeviating  regularity.  In 
the  morning  he  received  audiences ;  in  the  afternoon 
he  attended  the  council  and  conferred  with  his  minis- 
ters, or  visited  the  king.  By  five  or  six,  the  work  of 
the  day  was  done ;  those  who  took  part  in  the  govern- 
ment were  dismissed,  and  they  were  succeeded  by  the 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         bll 

rakes  and  debauchees  ;  the  doors  were  closed  to  serious 
affairs ;  after  that  hour  it  was  impossible  to  see  the  re- 
gent on  business,  however  pressing.  During  the  eight 
years  of  his  administration,  every  night  was  devoted 
to  unbroken  revelry ;  even  when  impaired  health  and 
enfeebled  appetite  destroyed  any  enjoyment  in  such 
a  life,  he  continued  it  from  force  of  habit. 

The  companions  of  his  pleasures  were  not  numer- 
ous. Perhaps  a  dozen  men  who  combined  wit  with 
recklessness,  irreverence,  and  obscenity ;  a  few  women, 
generally  attractive,  always  profligate,  —  among  whom 
his  own  daughter  was  often  found,  and  some  dancer 
or  singer  from  the  opera,  — usually  made  up  the  party 
at  the  suppers  of  the  Palais  Royal.  At  these  famous 
orgies  there  was  much  wit  and  more  vulgarity.  Cere- 
mony was  laid  aside.  The  guests  helped  themselves, 
for  their  conduct  and  conversation  were  too  bad  to  be 
witnessed  by  servants.  The  one  who  could  tell  the 
most  scandalous  story,  or  could  devise  the  most  pro- 
fane jest,  was  most  applauded.  All  decency  was  ban- 
ished. At  one  supper  the  judgment  of  Paris  was  re- 
hearsed. Mme.  de  Parabere  represented  Juno  ;  Mme. 
d'Averne,  Minerva;  and  the  Duchess  of  Berry  took 
the  part  of  Venus.  The  lack  of  costume  was  entirely 
classical.  The  license  grew  more  unbridled  as  the 
evening  went  on.  Before  it  was  over,  most  of  the 
company  were  intoxicated.  There  was  rarely  a  night 
that  Orleans  himself  did  not  get  stupidly  drunk.  The 
supper  ended  in  a  scene  of  drunken  debauchery,  such 
as  might  be  witnessed  in  the  lowest  haunts  of  vice. 

Many  forms  of  amusement  occupied  the  attention  of 
a  society  that  sought  compensation  for  past  restraint 
in  present  license.  The  opera  was  a  favorite  pastime, 
and  the  regent  was  often  seen  there.     He  appeared  in 


578  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

his  loge^  surrounded  by  his  companions.  The  selec- 
tion of  a  mistress  was  formally  announced  to  the  pub- 
lic by  her  appearance  in  the  regent's  box.  Masked 
balls  at  the  opera  were  an  invention  of  the  period.  It 
is  said  that  an  Augustine  friar  conceived  the  idea  of 
so  placing  a  temporary  flooring  that  the  great  hall 
could  be  used  as  a  ball-room,  and  that  he  received  a 
pension  for  his  pains.  They  became  popular  enter- 
tainments. The  freedom  of  speech  and  conduct  al- 
lowed by  the  masks  was  agreeable  to  the  public  taste. 
All  the  world  wanted  to  be  amused,  but  the  amuse- 
ments pleased  best  which  had  a  flavor  of  indecency. 

The  existence  led  by  the  regent  sapped  the  vigor 
of  body  and  mind.  In  his  later  years  the  marks  of 
excess  were  only  too  evident.  He  rarely  arose  until 
late,  and  for  an  hour  or  more  his  mind  was  so  clouded 
by  the  debauchery  of  the  past  night  that  he  was  in- 
capable of  thought,  and  he  signed  without  attention 
any  papers  that  were  presented.^  His  language  be- 
came coarse.  Though  by  nature  a  courteous  man, 
he  was  now  ill-mannered  when  thwarted.  He  once 
attacked  the  first  president  of  the  Parliament  with 
violent  and  vulgar  language.  "  Sir,"  answered  the 
president,  "  I  had  the  honor  of  speaking  often  with 
the  late  king,  and  he  would  never  have  used  such 
terms,  even  to  a  groom."  ^ 

As  years  went  on,  the  license  of  his  private  life  was 
displayed  before  the  public,  not  perhaps  more  openly, 
but  with  more  of  solemn  state.  The  choice  of  a  new 
mistress  was  celebrated  with  fetes  of  unseemly  mag- 
nificence, and  there  were  frequent  occasions  for  such 
rejoicings.  The.  chroniclers  record  the  negotiations 
which  resulted  in  the  assumption  of  the  place  of  honor 

1  St.  Siraou,  xix.  X60*  ^  Journal  de  Barhier,  i.  210. 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.        579 

by  Mme.  d'Averne.     She  demanded  liberal  terms,  and 
she  received  them.     She  was  given  100,000  crowns ; 
her  husband  was  made  a  captain  of  the  guards  ;  he 
had  a  government  in  Beam  and  a  ribbon.     Gifts  were 
sent  as  for  a  wedding ;  the  new  favorite  took  her  place 
at  the  supper  table  of  the  Palais  Eoyal ;  she  appeared 
with  the  regent  at  the  opera  ;   she  walked  with  him 
in  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  which  was  then  the  fa- 
vorite resort  for  fashion  and  for  gallantry.     At  St. 
Cloud  the  alliance  was  celebrated  with  unusual  bril- 
liancy.    Twenty-four  guests  were  bidden  to  the  sup- 
per ;  this  was  followed  by  a  masked  ball,  which  was 
attended  b}^'  every   one  of  distinction   in  Paris,  and 
lasted  until  daylight.     Mme.  d'Averne    presented    a 
belt  to  the  regent,  and  verses  written  by  Voltaire  were 
recited,  which  declared  the  charms  of  the  modern  Ve- 
nus.    Without,  twenty  thousand  lanterns  illuminated 
the  garden ;  the  cascades  played  in  innumerable  col- 
ors, the  whole  park  seemed  on  fire.     At  midnight  there 
was  a  discharge  of  fireworks,  which  cast    marvelous 
reflections  upon  the  Seine  and  its  wooded  banks.     For 
miles  along  the  river  were  rows  of    carriages  ;  their 
occupants  watched  the  illumination,  while  the  torches 
of  their  servants  added  to  the  beauty  of  the  effect.^ 
"  Though  all  were  eager  to  see  the  fete,"  says  one  of 
those  who  describes  it,  "  there  was  no  one  who  was  not 
indignant.  ...  It  is  against  religion  to  proclaim  so 
publicly  the  triumph  of  vice,  and  against  humanity  to 
give  such  fetes  at  a  time  when  every  one  is  ruined  and 
in  distress."     He  consoled  himself  by  saying  that  the 
attractions  of  the  new  favorite  did  not  need  such  a 
blaze  of  light,  for  she  possessed  little  beautj^,  and  owed 
her  only  charms  to  the  use  of  paint. 

1  Journals  of  Bar  bier  and  Marais,  July,  1721. 


580  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Among  the  intermittent  favorites  of  the  regent  was 
the  Duchess  of  Falari.  As  soon  as  the  duke  her 
husband  heard  of  the  favor  accorded  to  his  wife,  he 
started  forthwith  for  Paris,  but  at  Chartres  he  was 
arrested,  and  he  was  confined  in  the  Bastille.  Let 
no  one  suppose  that  he  was  hastening  to  avenge  his 
honor,  or  to  place  any  restraint  upon  the  liberty  of 
his  wife.  His  only  eagerness  was  to  share  in  her  good 
fortune,  and  to  receive  proper  compensation.  He  was 
known  to  be  unreasonable ;  the  bargain  with  the  lady 
had  already  been  made  and  consummated ;  to  put  the 
husband  in  the  Bastille  seemed  the  simplest  way  to 
dispose  of  his  demands. 

In  the  strange  world  which  surrounded  the  regent, 
ordinary  jealousies  and  piques  were  forgotten.  No 
permanent  affection,  no  strong  passion,  could  exist  in 
such  a  circle  ;  it  was  not  required  to  be  off  with  the  old 
love  before  one  was  on  with  the  new.  "  Sometimes," 
says  Marais,  "the  regent  has  his  mistresses  consecu- 
tively, and  sometimes  he  has  them  alternatively."  ^ 

These  debauched  and  shameless  women  supped  and 
lived  together  with  smiling  indifference,  as  insensible 
as  the  inhabitants  of  a  seraglio.  Their  vicissitudes 
were  only  the  subject  of  a  jest.  "  Monseigneur,  deign 
to  look  upon  the  former  members  of  your  harem," 
cried  one  of  them  from  her  box  at  the  opera,  as  the 
regent  promenaded  with  a  new  favorite.  Mutability 
in  affection  was  praised,  as  constancy  might  be  in 
other  eras.  The  Count  of  Caylus  described  with  en- 
thusiasm the  career  of  Mme.  de  Parabdre.  Her  heart 
was  never  vacant,  he  said;  she  deserted  others  and 
she  was  deserted,  but  the  next  day  always  furnished  a 
new  object  for  her  affections ;  these  were  so  exuberant 
J  Journal,  December,  1720. 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         581 

that  during  her  life  she  counted  twenty  lovers,  each  of 
whom  she  had  adored  with  equal  intensity.^ 

The  manners  of  such  women  became  as  bad  as  their 
morals.  At  a  public  ball  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  two 
duchesses  and  two  countesses  came  to  open  strife  over 
their  seats.  "You  want  to  take  a  better  place  and 
show  your  fine  clothes,  but  they  come  from  the  shop 
of  your  father,"  cries  a  countess  to  a  duchess,  whose 
pedigree  was  thought  to  have  been  contaminated  by 
trade.  "  If  our  ancestry  is  not  as  good,  our  morals 
are  much  better  than  those  of  courtesans  like  you," 
rejoined  the  duchess.^  Are  these  the  high-bred  man- 
ners of  an  ancient  aristocracy  whose  destruction  by  a 
modern  democracy  so  many  deplore  ? 

The  example  set  by  the  regent  was  followed  by 
almost  all  who  had  any  claim  to  social  position.  The 
Princess  of  Laon  became  intoxicated  at  a  supper,  and 
indulged  in  liberties  of  an  extraordinary  nature.  The 
next  day  she  had  only  a  jest  for  her  adventures.  The 
Duke  of  Noailles  had  been  a  favorite  and  a  devotee 
under  Louis  XIV.  Under  the  regent  he  obtained  a 
position  in  the  council  of  finance,  and  he  changed  his 
habits  to  correspond  with  the  tastes  of  his  new  patron. 
He  took  a  ballet  girl  for  his  mistress,  drank  too  much 
wine  at  the  opera  balls,  and  laboriously  practiced  vices 
for  which  he  had  no  inclination.^ 

"  There  is  little  news  from  Versailles,"  writes  a  con- 
temporary, "  except  that  the  gambling  is  appalling,  that 
every  one  is  making  love,  that  Cardinal  Dubois  is 
growing  in  credit,  and  that  the  quarrels  of  two  harlots 

1  Souvenirs  de  Caylus. 

2  Journal  de  Marais,  March  10,  1722  ;  Lettres  de  la  Princesse 
Palatine,  ii.  369. 

8  St.  Simon,  xi.  391. 


582  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

have  occupied  the  court  more  than  the  Congress  of 
Cambray."  ^  A  good  jest  was  held  worthy  of  promo- 
tion in  the  church,  as  well  as  in  the  state.  The  Abbe 
of  Brogiie  praised  a  brand  of  wine,  and  the  regent 
asked  for  some  of  it.  The  abbe  sent  three  hundred 
bottles,  and  Orleans  told  him  to  present  the  bill.  A 
long  account  was  duly  rendered  for  the  wine,  the  bot- 
tles, the  baskets,  the  freight,  down  to  the  string  and 
the  wax.  The  price  was  then  stated  to  be  the  Abbey 
of  Mont  St.  Michel.  The  regent  laughed  and  Brogiie 
had  the  abbey.  "  Would  it  not  be  better  to  give  such 
benefices  to  those  who  do  good  things,  instead  of  to 
those  who  say  good  things  ?  "  the  chronicler  concludes.^ 
Of  indecent  poetry  there  was  no  end,  and  it  was  as 
popular  as  it  was  plentiful.  Among  the  freest  of  all 
such  efforts  are  the  verses  turned  off  by  a  poetic  abbe 
for  the  amusement  of  an  amiable  duchess.  The  lady 
who  found  entertainment  in  them,  we  are  told,  was 
wise  and  virtuous.^  We  may  imagine  what  would 
have  been  relished  by  those  who  were  foolish  and  un- 
chaste. The  dissipation  at  Versailles  finally  produced 
a  scandal  too  monstrous  to  be  overlooked.  Two  young 
duchesses,  children  in  years  but  old  in  vice,  were  ex- 
pelled from  the  court ;  the  Duke  of  Boufflers  was  sent 
to  Picardy ;  the  Marquis  of  Rambure  was  thrown  into 
the  Bastille.  "  The  debauch  is  without  restraint,"  says 
Marais  ;  "  there  is  neither  politeness,  nor  civility,  nor 
good  breeding ;  it  is  the  reign  of  all  the  vices."  * 

1  Journal  de  Marais,  July,  1722.  2  z^,.^  1721. 

8  Marais,  MS.,  April,  1722. 

4  Marais,  July,  1722.  Accounts  of  these  scandals  are  found 
in  all  the  contemporary  writers.  See  Buvat,  Barbier,  etc. 
"EUe  chasse  de  race,"  says  Marais  of  the  Duchess  of  Retz, 
who  was  one  of  those  expelled. 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         683 

It  was  in  such  a  society  that  a  character  like  the 
Duke  of  Richelieu  could  flourish.  His  only  talent  v/as 
a  talent  for  seduction,  but  it  was  sufficient  to  make 
him  famous.  In  politics  he  was  a  failure.  He  knew 
just  enough  of  war  to  get  beaten.  The  only  position 
for  which  he  was  fit,  as  has  been  truly  said,  was  the 
secretaryship  of  the  department  of  the  Pare  aux  Cerf s. 
He  was  a  hero  of  the  boudoir,  a  genius  in  ribbons 
and  rendezvous  ;  whatever  he  attempted,  he  always 
remained  a  fribble.  In  an  unusual  degree,  he  pos- 
sessed the  most  contemptible  quality  which  a  man  can 
have :  he  loved  to  boast  of  his  successes  in  gallantry. 
Any  woman  to  whom  he  made  love  knew  that  he 
would  soon  desert  her,  and  that  he  would  brag  of  his 
conquest  to  every  person  he  met.  Yet  such  a  being 
w^as  adored  by  all,  from  princesses  to  ballet  girls. 
A  lady  of  fashion  seemed  to  lack  something  if  her 
name  was  not  claimed  by  the  duke  among  his  victims  ; 
the  suspicion  of  virtue  was  the  only  thing  which 
brought  the  blush  of  shame. 

It  was  not  strange  that  such  a  man  should  enjoy  the 
favor  of  Louis  XV. ;  it  is  more  surprising  that,  when 
he  was  only  twenty-four,  he  should  have  been  deemed 
worthy  of  admission  to  the  French  Academy.  He  was 
unanimously  chosen  to  that  body,  though  all  that  he 
had  done  in  literature  was  to  write  billets-doux. 
When  he  was  received  into  Parliament,  the  ceremony 
was  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  princes  of  the 
blood.  We  are  told  that  his  cloak  and  mantle  were 
of  cloth  of  gold,  costing  260  livres  a  yard;  that  he 
seemed  the  ideal  of  Love  ;  and  that  no  one  at  the  court 
had  carried  further  than  he  good  taste  and  magnifi- 
cence in  dress.^  On  his  taste  in  clothes  rested  his 
1  Marais,  January  6,  1721. 


584  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

only  just  claim  for  fame,  and  the  costume  of  Cupid 
would  always  have  been  appropriate  for  the  Duke  of 
Richelieu.  Unfortunately  for  France,  he  was  often 
allowed  to  masquerade  under  the  disguise  of  a  soldier 
and  a  statesman. 

We  should  miss  a  leading  figure  from  the  society  of 
the  period  if  we  omitted  to  speak  of  the  Duchess  of 
Berry,  the  favorite  child  of  the  regent.  TJie  relations 
between  the  father  and  daughter  were  extraordinary 
and  unfortunate.  They  joined  in  common  revels  ;  the 
daughter  saw  with  apparent  approval  her  father  dis- 
port himself  with  his  favorites,  and  he  viewed  with 
indifference  the  scandalous  career  of  his  daughter. 

She  had  been  early  married  to  a  grandson  of  Louis 
XIV.,  as  dull  and  as  moral  as  were  all  his  grandsons, 
and  she  did  what  was  in  her  power  to  make  her  hus- 
band's existence  unendurable.  His  early  death,  and 
the  assumption  of  power  by  her  father,  left  her  free 
from  restraint.  The  palace  of  the  Luxembourg  was 
assigned  to  her,  and  there  she  indulged  in  the  delights 
of  absolute  license.  "  Barring  avarice,"  says  St.  Simon, 
"  she  was  a  model  of  every  vice."  However  indiffer- 
ent to  her  good  name,  few  had  a  greater  desire  for 
the  external  trappings  which  command  respect.  She 
horrified  the  observers  of  etiquette  by  appearing  in  the 
streets  surrounded  by  guards,  and  preceded  by  men 
sounding  tymbals,  —  an  escort  only  allowed  for  the 
sovereign.  At  the  Fran^ais  she  assumed  royal  honors, 
and  when  public  discontent  at  these  innovations  com- 
pelled their  abandonment,  she  would  go  to  the  theatre 
no  more.  She  kept  in  her  employ  eight  hundred  ser- 
vants, she  squandered  an  income  of  700,000  livres, 
drawn  from  the  public  treasury,  and  she  left  enor- 
mous debts  at  her  death. 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         585 

A  ball  which  she  gave  was  so  magnificent  that  the 
court  journal  of  the  period  occupied  two  months  in 
describing  it :  at  the  entertainment  thirty-one  soups 
were  served,  and  a  hundred  and  thirty  entremets  ;  two 
hundred  valets  were  needed  to  hand  the  plates,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  to  pour  the  wine.  Her 
taste  for  eating  and  drinking  shortened  her  life. 
"She  cannot  be  well,"  writes  her  grandmother,  "she 
is  such  a  glutton.  Every  night  she  sits  down  at  the 
table  at  nine,  and  eats  till  three  in  the  morning." 
"  She  is  sick,"  she  writes  again  of  her  grand-daughter, 
"because  she  has  eaten  enormously  and  drunk  too 
much  brandy."  ^  The  early  death  of  one  of  her  com- 
panions, the  Duchesse  d'Albret,  was  attributed  to  the 
great  quantities  of  brandy  and  liquors  which  she  drank 
in  order  to  keep  company  with  her  f  riend.^ 

While  the  Duchess  of  Berry  delighted  in  astound- 
ing the  public  by  her  magnificence,  and  exacted  the 
utmost  deference  for  her  rank,  her  conduct  in  other 
respects  was  unaffected  by  the  opinion  of  the  world. 
Among  her  early  lovers  was  an  equerry  of  her  hus- 
band, and  she  became  so  infatuated  that  she  wished 
to  fly  with  him  to  the  Hague.  The  charge  of  a  fugi- 
tive princess  was  not  a  responsibility  which  the  un- 
fortunate equerry  cared  to  undertake ;  he  calmed  as 
best  he  might  an  ardor  which  exceeded  his  desires. 
After  her  husband's  death,  an  adventurer  by  the  name 
of  Rion  obtained  complete  control  over  her  caprices. 
The  duchess  regarded  it  as  less  unbecoming  to  liave 
a  man  of  inferior  rank  for  a  lover  than  for  a  husband. 
Neyer,  she  assured  her  family,  would  she  sink  so  low 
as  to  marry  Rion.     At  last,  however,  she  did  con- 

1  Lettres  de  la  Princesse  Palatine,  April  12,  15,  1719. 
a  Buvat,  ii.  712. 


686         FRANCE   UNDER   THE  REGENCY, 

tract  a  secret  alliance  with  him.  He  exercised  over 
her  a  despotic  authority,  which  apparently  strength- 
ened his  hold  upon  her  affection.  When  the  duchess 
wished  to  go  to  the  opera,  he  bade  her  stay  at  home ; 
and  when  she  wished  to  stay  at  home,  he  bade  her  go. 
Her  dress  was  changed  according  to  his  caprice,  until 
finally  valets  were  sent  during  the  toilet  to  receive 
the  orders  of  the  master  as  to  what  robes  or  ribbons 
should  be  worn.  The  rule  by  which  Rion  made  his 
selection  was  said  to  be  a  simple  one  :  he  always  chose 
what  his  wife  did  not  wish  to  wear. 

The  character  of  this  woman,  who  was  the  devotee 
of  debauchery  and  the  slave  of  every  lust  of  the  flesh, 
who  gambled  six  nights  of  the  week  and  rarely  went 
to  bed  sober,  would  have  lacked  completeness  if  with 
such  a  life  she  had  not  combined  the  practices  of  reli- 
gion. In  her  early  years  she  mocked  at  such  obser- 
vances. The  Duke  of  Berry,  like  his  brother,  com- 
plied strictly  with  the  regulations  of  the  church.  His 
wife  exercised  her  ingenuity  to  make  this  difficult  for 
him.  On  fast  days  he  found  only  meat  on  his  table; 
she  jested  at  his  prayers,  sneered  at  his  observances, 
and  railed  when  he  declined  to  join  in  her  drinking 
bouts.  The  duchess  selected  an  accommodating  Jesuit, 
w^ho  dined  at  her  table  and  was  a  witness  of  her  daily 
Hf e.  Thus,  she  said,  she  was  saved  the  necessity  of 
going  to  the  confessional ;  the  priest  could  see  all  her 
misdemeanors,  and  there  was  nothing  left  to  confess. 

During  her  liaison  with  Rion,  though  she  made  no 
change  in  the  indecency  of  her  conduct,  she  suddenly 
affected  an  extreme  zeal  for  religious  observances. 
She  became  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Carmelites ;  she 
dined  with  the  sisters,  supped  at  the  Palais  Royal,  and 
spent  the  night  at  the  opera  ball.     To  be  delivered 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         587 

from  an  illness,  she  vowed  that  her  household  should 
for  six  months  be  clothed  in  white,  as  a  symbol  of 
purity.  An  agreeable  spectacle  was  presented  to  the 
Parisian  populace  when  the  duchess  was  driven  through 
the  streets,  the  carriage  and  harness  all  of  spotless 
white,  as  a  mark  of  her  gratitude  and  her  piety. 

When  not  yet  twenty-four,  the  career  of  this  daugh- 
ter of  the  regent  was  brought  to  an  early  end.  Her 
life  seems  like  that  of  some  Roman  woman  in  the 
period  of  the  Empire,  a  Faustina  or  a  Lucilla.  The 
same  social  causes  bring  the  same  results.  When 
wealth  furnishes  the  means  of  indulging  every  inclina- 
tion, when  exalted  rank  enables  one  to  despise  the 
opinion  of  the  community,  when  no  serious  employ- 
ment interests  the  mind,  then,  until  human  nature 
has  attained  to  a  higher  degree  of  development  than 
it  has  yet  reached,  will  too  often  be  found  the  per- 
verse and  capricious  manifestations  of  unrestrained 
debauchery  and  vice. 

The  death  of  a  person  of  distinguished  rank  was 
usually  commemorated  by  elaborate  funeral  discourses. 
The  great  orators  of  the  pulpit  made  their  most  fa- 
mous efforts  in  celebrating  the  virtues  of  deceased 
kings  and  princesses.  No  funeral  oration  was  pro- 
nounced over  the  Duchess  of  Berry.  There  were,  in- 
deed, bishops  and  abbes  ready  to  proclaim  the  Chris- 
tian character  of  the  departed,  but  her  family  wisely 
thought  that  her  praises  had  best  be  left  unsounded.^ 

1  The  best  authorities  for  the  career  of  the  Duchess  of  Berry 
are  the  letters  of  her  grandmother,  the  Princess  Palatine,  writ- 
ten from  Paris  to  her  German  kinsfolk,  and  the  Memoires  de  St. 
Simon.  Mme.  de  St.  Simon  was  lady  of  honor  to  the  Duchess  of 
Berry,  and  was,  perhaps,  the  only  member  of  the  household 
whose  character  was  above  suspicion. 


588         FRANCE   UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

The  careers  of  other  members  of  the  Orleans  fam- 
ily are  curious  instances  of  the  ignorance  and  slovenli- 
ness in  which  children  were  often  reared,  even  those 
of  the  blood  royal.  One  daughter  married  the  son 
of  Philip  v.,  and  was  for  a  few  months  the  queen  of 
Spain.  She  was  a  child  of  only  twelve  when  she 
was  sent  to  Spain,  but  her  ignorance  was  amazing 
even  for  her  age.^  This  was  less  distressing  to  the 
family  of  her  husband  than  her  slovenliness.  The  let- 
ters of  ambassadors  are  filled  with  complaints  as  to  the 
conduct  of  the  princess.  Her  table  manners  were 
atrocious  ;  she  was  always  dirty  ;  worst  of  all,  she  had 
a  prejudice  against  stockings  and  skirts,  and  she  some- 
times disported  herself  in  the  royal  gardens,  and  in 
the  presence  of  domestics,  in  a  lamentable  state  of 
deshabille.^  When  Philip  V.  had  abdicated,  and  his 
daughter-in-law  was  actually  queen,  he  espied  her 
walking  in  the  gardens  of  St.  Ildefonso,  with  no  stock- 
ings and  scanty  skirts  in  a  high  wind.  A  revolution 
at  Madrid  would  not  have  produced  so  terrifying  an 
effect  on  the  sombre  etiquette  of  the  Spanish  court.^ 
The  death  of  her  husband  soon  removed  the  young 
queen  from  the  court  where  she  was  unwelcome. 

Her  sister  was  married  to  the  Prince  of  Modena, 
and  her  trials  occupied  still  more  of  diplomatic  corre- 
spondence.    Her  unfortunate  relations  with  her  hus- 

1  One  of  her  letters  to  her  father  may  illustrate  the  grammar 
and  orthography  of  a  queen  at  that  period  :  *'  Je  netoit  pas  en- 
core arriver  ici  le  lendemein  gi  arriveret  je  fut  marie  le  meme 
jour  cependant  ili  a  eu  aujourduit  encore  des  ceremonie  a  faire 
le  roi  et  la  reine  me  traite  fort  bien  pour  le  prince  vous  en  aves 
ace  oui  dire  je  suis  avec  un  tres  profond  respec  votre  tres  heuni- 
ble  et  tres  obisante  file."  —  Letter  to  regent,  January  21,  1722. 

2  See  letters  of  Coulange  for  1723,  and  of  Tesse  for  1724. 
8  Dispatch  of  Tess^,  July  6, 1724. 


THE  MORALS  OF  THE  REGENCY.        589 

band  were  the  source  of  endless  bickerings.  The 
whole  family  of  the  regent  were  brought  up  with  no 
pretense  of  education,  either  in  books  or  in  self-con- 
trol, and  the  conduct  of  most  of  them  did  not  tend  to 
edification.  His  oldest  son,  after  a  brief  career  among 
the  ballet  girls  at  the  opera,  sought  consolation  in  re- 
ligious studies  ;  he  translated  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul, 
and  wrote  dissertations  on  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia. 
He  was  not  far  removed  from  an  imbecile,  but  other- 
wise there  was  little  to  say  against  him.  One  daugh- 
ter took  the  veil,  was  made  an  abbess,  and  became 
known  as  a  defender  of  Jansenism.  She  had  been 
enough  in  the  world  to  have  contracted  some  of  its 
customs,  and  she  found  it  difficult  to  overcome  them. 
It  was  long  before  she  was  able  to  discard  her  habit  of 
swearing.  The  usages  of  good  society  did  not  accord 
with  modern  notions.  A  lady  of  position  in  the  time 
of  the  regency  was  often  bedaubed  with  snuff,  and  was 
apt  to  use  a  round  oath. 

There  was  talk  of  marrying  one  of  the  sisters  to 
the  Count  of  Charolais,  but  he  was  unwilling.  It 
was  little  loss,  for  this  younger  brother  of  the  Duke 
of  Bourbon  had  so  violent  and  so  vicious  a  character 
that  he  might  well  be  regarded  as  insane.  The  Con- 
des  and  the  Orleans  were  equally  addicted  to  dissipa- 
tion, but  this  community  of  taste  did  not  make  them 
friendly.  "  All  the  members  of  the  royal  family  hate 
each  other  like  the  devil,"  wrote  Orleans's  mother. 
In  another  letter  she  gives  the  true  explanation  :  "  If 
you  want  to  know  the  true  reason  why  the  princes 
and  princesses  detest  each  other  so  much,  it  is  because 
they  are  all  utterly  worthless."  ^ 

1  Lettres  de  la  Princesse  Palatine,  November  30,  1715,  and 
January,  1720. 


590  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY, 

The  wife  of  the  regent  furnished  another  type, 
which  was  not  uncommon,  and  which  was  no  more 
deserving  of  praise  than  that  represented  by  his 
daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Berry.  Her  life  was  free 
from  gross  immorality,  but  she  watched  the  vices  of 
her  husband  and  her  children  with  tranquil  impertur- 
bability. She  spent  entire  days  stretched  upon  her 
sofa,  surrounded  by  her  parrots,  talking  scandal,  ar- 
ranging her  paint,  tying  bows,  and  playing  lansquenet. 
The  duke's  mother  was  a  more  vigorous  character, 
but  she  also  was  addicted  to  the  sluggishness  of  body 
which  was  deemed  fitting  in  a  great  lady.  The  public 
avenged  itself  both  on  her  and  her  son  by  the  epitaph 
which  went  the  rounds  of  Paris  :  "  Here  lies  Indolence, 
the  mother  of  all  Vice." 

Though  the  criticisms  of  contemporaries  upon  the 
manners  of  the  period  were  freer  than  in  the  past, 
yet  it  often  seemed  as  if  moral  judgment  and  the  per- 
ception of  right  and  wrong  had  no  existence.  What- 
ever were  Cardinal  Dubois's  abilities  as  a  statesman, 
no  one  can  claim  that  his  standard  or  his  practices 
deserved  the  special  approbation  of  religion.  When 
the  assembly  of  the  Gallican  Church  met  in  1723,  a 
motion  that  the  cardinal  should  be  chosen  to  preside 
over  their  deliberations  was  adopted  with  enthusiasm. 
Two  archbishops,  four  bishops,  and  six  abbes  went  to 
receive  the  holy  man  when  he  descended  from  his  car- 
riage. The  orator  of  the  assembly  dwelt  eloquently 
upon  the  gratitude  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  to  the 
cardinal  for  the  good  work  he  had  done  in  the  cause 
of  religion. 

In  all  the  assembly  there  was  not  one  who  did  not 
know  that  Dubois  had  viewed  with  indifference  the 
excesses  of  the  regency,  —  who  did  not  know  that  he 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         591 

was  greedy,  that  he  was  licentious,  that  he  disre- 
garded every  observance  of  the  church.  But  he  was 
a  cardinal,  and  he  had  assisted  in  the  persecution  of 
those  who  differed  from  their  brethren  on  the  nature 
of  grace  and  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  Such  were 
the  services  to  religion  which,  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  were  praised  by  the  general  assembly  of  the 
clergy  of  France. 

The  Christian  character  of  the  regent  excited  the 
same  approbation  as  that  of  his  minister.  Said  the 
Archbishop  of  Aix,  in  presenting  the  address  of  the 
assembly  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans :  "  We  pray  that 
the  Almighty  may  send  his  benediction  upon  a  prince 
who  commands  our  love  by  his  goodness,  and  our  ad- 
miration by  the  virtues  with  which  he  is  filled."  The 
life  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  a  public  scandal ;  he 
devoted  every  night  to  debauchery,  he  had  as  many 
mistresses  as  Solomon  had  wives,  he  found  pleasure  in 
drunken  obscenity  and  profanity,  and  of  all  this  there 
was  not  the  slightest  concealment.  It  was  as  familiar 
to  the  humblest  curate  as  it  was  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Aix.  And  yet  the  duke  was  declared  to  be  a  char- 
acter so  filled  with  virtue  that  he  commanded  alike 
the  love  and  the  admiration  of  the  representatives  of 
religion. 

We  ask  in  vain  what  was  the  standard  of  moraiity 
by  which  the  conduct  of  men  high  in  rank  and  posi- 
tion was  judged.  Upon  the  rake,  the  debauchee,  the 
infidel,  who  was  willing  to  conform  to  the  outward  ob- 
servances of  religion,  were  poured  the  praises  which 
would  have  been  fitting  for  men  of  high  aims,  pure 
life,  and  sincere  faith.  Was  it  possible  that  a  society 
should  continue  to  exist  whose  judgments  were  so  far 
removed  from  the  ordinary  standards  of  mankind? 


592  FRANCE    UNDER    THE  REGENCY. 

Was  it  not  necessary  that  it  should  be  reformed  from 
within,  or  reformed  from  without  ?  There  are  many 
who  look  back  with  regret  upon  a  society  which  has 
passed  away  forever.  Are  they  familiar  with  all  its 
characteristics,  with  its  moral  deficiencies,  with  the  sel- 
fishness and  the  coarseness  that  were  bred  by  the 
social  conditions  which  then  existed  ?  Would  they  wish 
to  see  this  society  restored  for  themselves  and  their 
children,  with  the  vices  as  well  as  the  graces  which 
it  contained  ? 

The  morality  of  the  upper  classes  was  not  that  of 
all  classes.  No  government  could  continue  to  exist 
where  the  entire  community  was  destitute  of  religion 
and  of  virtue.  The  poverty  of  nine  tenths  of  the 
population  in  France  furnished  little  opportunity  for 
dissipation.  Among  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  parlia- 
mentary families,  the  traditions  of  sober  and  discreet 
domestic  life  still  prevailed.  But  the  example  set 
by  the  highest  classes  is  never  without  its  influence ; 
it  furnishes  a  standard  for  those  who  acquire  wealth, 
and  for  those  who  wish  to  imitate  their  social  su- 
periors. 

It  was  a  relaxation  of  religious  belief,  rather  than 
an  alteration  in  modes  of  life,  which  began  to  mani- 
fest itself  in  the  community  at  large.  The  indications 
of  such  a  change  were  visible  before  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  It  could  develop  without  re- 
straint under  the  regency,  it  was  to  increase  in  force 
under  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVT.  The  church  had 
occupied  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  with  the 
persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  with  the  expulsion  of 
intelligent  and  God-fearing  citizens,  with  a  fruitless 
endeavor  to  crush  differences  of  opinion.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  its  energies  were  employed  by  acrimo- 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         593 

nious  wrangling  over  Jansenism  and  the  doctrines  of 
the  bull  Unigenitus.  Its  influence  steadily  waned, 
until  those  who  had  been  intolerant  to  others  found 
themselves  the  victims  of  intolerance.  Both  church 
and  state  were  to  destroy  the  deep-seated  feelings  of 
reverence,  which  had  long  been  their  sure  support,  by 
bigotry  combined  with  vice,  by  narrow  thinking  and 
low  living.^ 

Amidst  surroundings  such  as  we  have  described,  the 
young  Louis  XV.  was  growing  to  be  a  king ;  the  char- 
acter was  forming  of  the  man  who  for  half  a  century 
was  to  be  the  ruler  of  France.  The  reign  of  Louis 
XV.  in  length  nearly  equaled  that  of  Louis  XIV.  It 
contained  little  to  excite  the  pride  of  patriotism,  but 
it  was  perhaps  the  more  important  of  the  two  in  its 
effect  on  the  government,  the  beliefs,  and  the  desti- 
nies of  the  country. 

The  life  of  the  court  was  not  one  which  would  fill 
a  young  prince  with  noble  ideals.  Orleans  was  not 
without  a  sense  of  his  responsibilities  to  his  ward ; 
spasmodic  efforts  were  made  to  remove  objects  of  scan- 
dal from  the  immediate  presence  of  the  king.  They 
were  attended  with  little  success.  Louis's  would  have 
been  a  rare  nature  if,  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  Louvre 
or  Versailles,  he  could  have  developed  the  qualities  of 
a  virtuous  man  and  a  wise  ruler. 

The  Marshal  of  Villeroy  was  the  young  king's  gov- 
ernor.    He  was  a  man  free  from  the  licentiousness  of 

1  This  is  especially  true  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  When  his 
successor  ascended  the  throne  the  harm  was  done.  The  im- 
provement in  the  character  of  the  clergy,  which  can  be  noticed 
shortly  before  the  Revolution,  had  as  little  effect  on  the  progress 
of  events  as  the  superiority  of  Louis  XVI.'s  private  character 
over  that  of  his  grandfather. 


594         FRANCE    UNDER    THE   REGENCY, 

the  time,  but  he  was  none  the  better  fitted  to  instruct 
a  sovereign  in  his  duties.  A  nobleman  of  inferior  in- 
tellect and  excessive  pride,  holding  firmly  the  tenets 
of  the  divine  and  unquestionable  authority  of  kings, 
he  had  gained  no  humility  from  defeat,  and  no  wisdom 
from  a  long  life  ;  he  embodied  the  palsied  imbecility 
of  a  class  which  could  not  adapt  itself  to  a  new  re- 
gime. With  Villeroy  for  a  teacher  of  statecraft,  and 
Orleans  as  an  example  of  morality,  Louis  XV.  began 
his  career  under  evil  auspices. 

It  was  difficult  as  yet  to  form  any  opinion  of  the 
character  of  the  future  ruler.  He  possessed  the  timid- 
ity and  the  intellectual  sluggishness  which  were  found 
in  so  many  of  the  Bourbon  princes.  He  spoke  little 
and  was  extremely  diffident.  Some  of  the  reports  of 
his  conduct  as  a  child  indicated  an  indifference  hard- 
ening into  cruelty,  which  was  not  encouraging  for  the 
future.  He  seemed  to  take  a  sullen  pleasure  in  watch- 
ing the  slaughter  of  little  birds.  He  had  a  favorite 
dog,  which  ate  from  his  hand.  He  resolved  to  shoot 
the  beast  for  amusement.  It  was  placed  at  a  distance 
and  he  fired  and  wounded  it ;  the  poor  animal  crawled 
up  to  his  master  and  licked  his  hand,  but  again  he 
had  it  removed  ;  he  fired  a  second  time  and  killed  it.^ 
Such  an  incident  shows  a  cold  heart,  and  a  heart  in- 
different to  the  weal  and  woe  of  all  the  world  Louis 
XV.  was  to  manifest  in  his  maturity.  His  early  sur- 
roundings make  his  subsequent  character  no  more 
admirable,  but  they  may  help  to  explain  it. 

The  close  of  the  regent's  career  was  in  harmony 
with  his  life.  He  had  long  been  warned  that,  unless 
he  changed  his  habits,  death  might  be  in  store  for  him 

1  Journal  de  Barbkr,  April,  1722.  See,  also,  Dangeau,  April 
18, 1716. 


THE  MORALS   OF  THE  REGENCY.         595 

at  any  time.  To  the  remonstrances  of  his  friends  he 
replied  that  when  the  end  came  he  preferred  that  it 
should  come  quickly.  After  finishing  his  work  on 
the  2d  of  December,  1723,  he  retired  to  his  cabinet, 
where  the  Duchess  of  Falari  was  waiting  to  amuse 
him.  The  regent  began  talking  in  the  jesting  manner 
that  was  habitual  with  him.  "  Do  you  really  believe 
that  there  is  a  God,"  he  said  to  his  mistress,  "  and  that 
there  is  a  heaven  and  hell  after  this  life  ?  "  "  Cer- 
tainly, my  prince,  I  believe  it,"  she  answered.  "  If 
that  is  true,"  he  rejoined,  with  more  truth  than  polite- 
ness, "  you  are  most  unfortunate  to  lead  the  life  you 
do."  "  I  hope  that  God  will  be  merciful  at  the  end," 
replied  the  duchess.  It  was  the  last  conversation  of 
the  Duke  of  Orleans.  He  threw  himself  in  a  chair, 
saying  that  he  felt  unwell,  and  in  a  few  moments  he 
was  dead.^  He  died,  as  was  fitting,  in  the  arms  of  his 
mistress,  with  a  jest  at  religion  on  his  lips. 

"  Here  we  can  properly  close  the  journal  of  the  re- 
gency of  this  incomparable  prince,"  writes  a  contem- 
porary who  day  by  day  had  recorded  its  events.  The 
journal  contains  full  particulars  of  all  the  vices  of  the 
regent ;  the  license  of  his  life  is  exaggerated  rather 
than  concealed.  But  the  prince  was  a  prince  all  the 
same ;  he  still  seemed  an  incomparable  ruler  to  the 
humble  chronicler  who  had  written  the  history  of  his 
administration. 

1  Journal  de  la  Regence,  December  3,  1723.  I  think  this  ac- 
count of  Orleans's  death  is  substantially  correct.  A  somewhat 
different  account  is  given  in  a  letter  of  Crawford  to  Carteret, 
December  6,  1723. 


INDEX. 


Academy,  the  French,  receives  Duke  of 
Richelieu,  583. 

Aguesseau,  D',  Chancellor,  347,  348. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  treaty  of,  65. 

Alacoque,  Marie,  hallucinations  of,  557- 
559. 

Albani,  Cardinal,  541,  544. 

Alberoni,  Cardinal,  beginning  of  his  ca- 
reer, 407  ;  made  cardinal,  408  ;  politi- 
cal character,  408,  409 ;  plans  of,  409- 
411 ;  opposes  France,  410 ;  begins  war, 
412 ;  refuses  to  join  alliance,  417,  418 ; 
attacks  England,  419 ;  intrigues  against 
regent,  420  ;  chimeras  of,  425 ;  his  over- 
throw, 425  ;  candidate  for  Pope,  426. 

Alexander  VII.,  Pope,  dislikes  France, 
44  ;  hostilities  against,  45 ;  apologizes 
to  Louis,  46. 

Alsace,  condition  of,  67. 

Amsterdam,  Bank  of,  429. 

Anjou,  Duke  of.    See  Philip  V.  of  Spain. 

Anne,  Queen,  of  England,  obtains  release 
of  Huguenots  in  galleys,  194. 

Anti-system,  the,  455. 

Archduke  of  Austria.  See  Charles  VI., 
Emperor. 

Architecture  under  Louis  XIV.,  136-140. 

Aristocracy,  French,  conduct  of,  before 
Revolution,  20  ;  unruliness  of,  48 ;  con- 
dition of,  under  Louis  XIV.,  130,  134, 
135  ;  decline  in  power,  301,  302,  521 ; 
nature  of,  302;  endeavors  to  restore 
influence  of,  339 ;  imfit  for  work,  340, 
341 ;  strenuous  as  to  questions  of  pre- 
cedence, 342-345 ;  speculations  by, 
472  ;  gains  undisturbed,  516  ;  injured 
by  speculation,  518  ;  hostile  to  Parlia- 
ment, 525 ;  changes  in,  561, 562  ;  mor- 
als of,  534,  535. 

Arkansas,  State  of,  459-462. 

Army,  improvement  in,  74 ;  cruelties  of, 
78,  233;  size  of,  129;  quartering  of 
soldiers,  177. 

Artagnan,  37. 

Augsburg,  league  of,  219. 

Austria.  See  Leopold,  Emperor,  and 
Charles  VI.,  Emperor. 

Aveme,  Mme.  d',  577-579. 

Bank  of  Law,  444, 446,  471 ;  consolidates 
with  Company  of  Indies,  492 ;  suspends 


specie  payments,  504-507 ;  ceases  to 

exist,  509. 
Banking,  441,  443-447. 
Bastille,  prisoners  in,  347. 
Bavaria,  Electoral  Prince  of,  chosen  for 

king  of  Spain,  241,  244 ;  dies,  246. 
Beachy  Head,  227. 
Bernard,  Samuel,  355,  373. 
Bernini,  Giovanni,  137. 
Berry,  Duchess  of,  573, 575, 577,  584-587. 
Berry,  Duke  of,  584. 
Berwick,  Duke  of,  335,  424. 
Blenheim,  battle  of,  272. 
Bolingbroke,  Lord,  378,  405. 
Bossuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  praises  revo- 
cation of  Edict  of  Nantes,  185  ;  draws 

articles  of  1682,  205. 
Boufflers,  Marshal  of,  133. 
Bourbon,  Duke  of,  his  speculations,  472, 

490;  dissipation  of,  499;  friendly  to 

Law,  510. 
Brabant,  custom  of,  57,  61. 
Brandenburg,  Elector  of,  79,  88. 
Bread,  price  of,  487. 
Broglie,  Abb6  of,  582. 
Brussels  bombarded,  234. 
Burgundy,   Duke  of,   rejoicings  at  his 

birth,  158 ;  death,  294 ;  character  and 

political  views,  294-296. 
Byng,  Admiral,  418. 

Cambray,  congress  of,  426,  427. 

Canillac,  Marquis  of,  48. 

Capitation  tax,  358. 

Carrousels,  50,  132. 

Cartouche,  career  of,  563-565 ;  executed, 

566. 
Casal,  fortress  of,  213,  235. 
Cellamare,  Prince  of,  conspiracy  of,  420 ; 

Chamillart,  Controller  General,  132,  275, 
283. 

Chapelain,  Jean,  144. 

Charles  II.  of  England,  sells  Dunkirk, 
47 ;  friendship  for  France,  60 ;  nego- 
tiates with  Louis,  71 ;  sells  liimself, 
72 ;  insolent  to  Holland,  75. 

Charles  II.  of  Spain,  birth  of ,  57 ;  weak- 
ness of,  58,  250 ;  makes  will,  246 ;  in- 
tellectual condition  of,  259, 260  ;  makes 
last  will,  262,  263. 


598 


INDEX. 


Charles  VI.,  Emperor,  enters  Madrid, 
274 ;  defeated,  285 ;  chosen  emperor, 
287  ;  makes  peace,  289  ;  joins  Quadru- 
ple Alliance,  415. 

Charolais,  Count  of,  589. 

Chaumont,  the  Mississippian,  478,  479, 
515. 

Chicaigo,  463. 

Clement,  Prince  of  Bavaria,  221,  222. 

Clement  XI.,  Pope,  408;  quarrels  with 
Orleans,  534,  535;  character  of,  539; 
promises  to  make  Dubois  cardinal,  544 ; 
death  of,  545. 

Code  Louis,  317. 

Colbert,  J.  B.,  little  known,  26  ;  opposed 
to  Fouquet,  34,  39  ;  flatters  Louis,  82, 
94 ;  descent  and  appearance  of,  90 ; 
dislikes  Mazarin,  91 ;  has  charge  of 
his  property,  92 ;  character  of,  92 ; 
recommended  by  Mazarin,  93;  made 
secretary  of  state,  93  ;  reduces  national 
debt,  96,  99 ;  influence  on  commercial 
system,  101 ;  protective  theories  of, 
100,  105;  encourages  manufactures, 
106;  increases  tariff,  109;  effect  of 
this,  114,  116  ;  his  regulations  of  man- 
ufactures, 118  ;  forbids  exportation  of 
grain,  120 ;  failure  of  his  efforts,  123  ; 
increases  navy,  123  ;  encourages  trad- 
ing companies,  125 ;  death  of,  127  ; 
wealth  of,  128  ;  his  interest  in  Louvre, 
131 ;  advocates  pensions  to  writers, 
144 ;  his  zeal  for  the  galleys,  190 ; 
administration  of,  307 ;  influence  on 
trade,  316. 

Cologne,  Electorate  of,  220-222,  237. 

Commerce,  council  of,  116. 

Compiegne,  review  at,  133. 

Cond^,  Prince  of,  81. 

Conti,  Prince  of,  his  greed,  490,  512. 

Corruption  in  office,  32  ;  in  provincial 
states,  305  ;  in  cities,  309 ;  at  Vatican, 
538,  545. 

Corsican  guard,  affair  of,  44. 

Councils,  system  of,  339 ;  inoperative, 
340 ;  abandoned,  521. 

Crequi,  Duke  of,  44,  46. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  47,  217. 

Currency,  depreciation  of,  283,  284,  358, 
359 ;  Law's  schemes  for,  433 ;  improve- 
ment in,  445 ;  increase  in,  458 ;  infla- 
tion of,  499 ;  reduced  in  value,  500  ; 
fluctuations  in,  504  ;  paper  abandoned, 
508. 

Dauphin,  the,  son  of  Louis  XIV.,  his 
conduct,  234 ;  character  and  death,  293. 

Debt,  national,  reduced  by  Colbert,  96, 
97  ;  amount  of,  under  regency,  353  ; 
arguments  for  repudiation  of,  353 ; 
funding  of,  456 ;  reduction  of,  515. 

De  Witt,  John,  64 ;  murdered,  78,  79. 

Dragonnades,  the,  177,  180-182. 

Drunkenness  of  bishops,  72 ;  not  fre- 
quent, 132  ;  under  regency,  577,  581. 

Dubois,  Cardinal,  character  of,  360,  361, 
369,  568;  preceptor  of  Orleans,  362; 


his  conduct,  364-367 ;  little  taste  for 
dissipation,  368 ;  vulgar,  370  ;  goes  to 
the  Hague,  383;  negotiates  for  Eng- 
lish alliance,  384-386 ;  not  pensioner  of 
England,  386  ;  made  ambassador,  388 ; 
signs  treaty,  389 ;  compared  to  Albe- 
roni,  408 ;  ambassador  at  London,  413  ; 
negotiates  alliance,  414 ;  discovers 
Spanish  intrigues,  422 ;  influence  of, 
520 ;  made  secretary  of  state,  521 ; 
views  of,  523 ;  hostile  to  Russian  alli- 
ance, 529 ;  quarrels  with  Turkish  am- 
bassador, 533  ;  desires  to  be  cardinal, 
533  ;  opposes  Jansenists,  536  ;  obtains 
aid  of  England,  538 ;  corrupt  measures 
of,  540,  545,  546 ;  friendship  for  Pre- 
tender, 543  ;  made  cardinal,  546 ;  prime 
minister,  547 ;  makes  alliance  with 
Spain,  548  ;  death  of,  567  ;  praised  by 
the  clergy,  590. 
Dunkirk,  city  of,  purchased  by  Louis 
XIV.,  47  ;  dismantled,  286. 

East  Indies,  Company  of,  453. 

Elizabeth  Farnese,  queen  of  Spain,  mar- 
ries Philip,  291 ;  dismisses  Mme.  des 
Ursins,  291 ;  influence  over  Philip, 
401,  404 ;  character  of,  403 ;  deserts 
Alberoni,  425. 

England,  growth  in  power,  15 ;  influence 
on  French  thought,  17 ;  hostility  to 
French,  42, 79 ;  deserts  Triple  Alliance, 
71 ;  makes  peace  with  Holland,  79 ; 
opposed  to  partition  treaty,  269;  an- 
gry at  Louis,  271  ;  gains  by  treaty  of 
Utrecht,  286 ;  friendly  to  Orleans,  374, 
376  ;  pursues  Stuarts,  381  ;  conduct  as 
to  Quadruple  Alliance,  414 ;  war  with 
Spain,  419 ;  apprehensive  of  Law's 
schemes,  480. 

Estrades,  Count  of,  42. 

Eugene,  Prince  of  Savoy,  274. 

Exports,  amount  of,  110, 117. 

Palari,  Duchess  of,  580,  595. 

Farmers  General,  profits  of,  98 ;  pursued 
by  Colbert,  98 ;  by  regent,  355. 

F^nelon,  Archbishop  of  Cambray,  294, 
368. 

Finances,  condition  of,  95, 234,  283,  353, 
354  ;  improvement  under  Colbert,  99  ; 
bad  condition  of,  under  regent,  438. 

Fleury,  Abb6,  348. 

Fontenelle,  Bernard  de,  420. 

Fouquet,  Nicolas,  corruption  of,  31 ; 
splendor  of,  32,  33,  36;  offensive  to 
Louis,  34 ;  arrest  of,  37  ;  trial,  38,  39  ; 
punishment  of,  40;  supposed  to  be 
man  in  iron  mask,  41. 

France,  growth  of,  2,  67,  87,  209  ;  mate- 
rial improvement  in,  3,  5 ;  loss  of  for- 
eign possessions,  14,  15 ;  aid  given 
American  colonies,  18  ;  power  at  Ma- 
zarin's  death,  23,  24 ;  corruption  in 
politics,  32 ;  distress  in,  33,  34 ;  law- 
lessness in,  48 ;  war  with  Holland,  75- 
78,80;  power  under  Louis  XIV.,  80; 


INDEX. 


599 


financial  condition  of,  95;  natural 
wealth,  100 ;  manufacturing  indus- 
tries, 102,  106,  107;  decline  in,  108, 
112,  113 ;  exports  diminished,  110 
growth  in  eighteenth  century,  117 
naval  strength  of,  123;  trading  com- 
panies in,  124  ;  intellectual  condition, 
146,  147 ;  enthusiasm  over  revocation 
of  Edict  of  Nantes,  184 ;  purchase  of 
slaves  by,  191 ;  population,  199 ;  con- 
dition after  revocation,  201,  202  ;  war 
with  Spain,  213 ;  war  against  alliance, 
227 ;  exhausted  condition,  234 ;  sur- 
renders possessions,  237 ;  displeased 
at  peace  of  Ryswick,  238 ;  feeling  as 
to  Spanish  succession,  265,  266;  in- 
volved in  war  of  succession,  272 ;  con- 
dition of,  274  ;  distress  in,  275 ;  losses 
at  peace  of  Utrecht,  286 ;  growth  of 
monarchical  power  in,  300,  302 ;  privi- 
leged classes,  303 ;  loss  of  local  inde- 
pendence, 305,  306 ;  population  dimin- 
ished, 313  ;  condition  improved,  314 ; 
social  changes,  317 ;  religious  feeling, 
321 ;  monarchical  feeling  in,  158,  324, 
332,  344 ;  political  views  under  regen- 
cy, 352;  friendly  to  Stuarts,  371,  372  ; 
negotiations  with  England,  376,  386; 
joins  Triple  Alliance,  389;  advantages 
of,  390-396 ;  joins  Quadruple  Alliance, 
415  ;  war  with  Spain,  434 ;  depressed 
condition  of  industry,  438 ;  subsequent 
improvement,  440 ;  benefits  from 
banks,  445 ;  foreign  possessions  of,  450 ; 
speculation  novel  to,  467;  extravagance 
in,  478,  479,  499  ;  rise  in  prices,  486  ; 
edicts  against  luxury,  488 ;  against 
precious  metals,  489,  491 ;  monarchi- 
cal reverence  in,  lessened,  518  ;  allied 
with  Spain,  549  ;  hostility  to  new  ideas, 
556 ;  change  in  condition  of,  561 ; 
changes  under  regency  and  Louis 
XV.,  570,  571  ;  moral  condition  un- 
der regency,  572,  573;  under  Louis 
XIV,,  574, 575  ;  relaxation  in  religious 
belief,  592. 

Franche  Comt^,  52,  becomes  French,  87. 

Fronde,  the,  142,  301. 

Fiirstenberg,  Cardinal,  220-222,  237. 

Galleys,  the,  190-193. 

Gallican  Church,  character  of,  10-12 ; 
intolerance  of,  171 ;  approves  revoca- 
tion of  Edict  of  Nantes,  185  ;  sustains 
king  in  contest  with  Pope,  204 ;  arti- 
cles of,  in  1682,  205 ;  quarrels  with 
Pope,  206,  535;  praises  Dubois  and 
Orleans,  590,  591. 

GambUng,  132,  435,  437. 

Genoa,  bombardment  of,  214,  216. 

George  I.  of  England,  371 ;  offers  aid  to 
Orleans,  374 ;  offended  at  Orleans, 
380 ;  meets  Dubois,  385 ;  anxious  for 
alliance  with  France,  384;  recom- 
mends Dubois  for  cardinal,  538. 

Germany,  political  condition  of,  23,  72, 
219. 


Gertruydenberg,  conferences  at,  278, 
279. 

Gibraltar,  416,  426. 

Gold,  use  of,  forbidden,  489,  491;  al- 
lowed, 503 ;  changing  values  of,  504, 

Grain,  duties  upon,  120,  122. 

Guilds,  trade,  315,  316. 

Guipuzcoa,  245. 

Harcourt,  Marquis  of,  252,  253,  256. 

Harrach,  Count  of,  252,  254,  255. 

Hat,  quarrel  over,  342. 

Henry  IV.  issues  Edict  of  Nantes,  165. 

Holland,  war  with  England,  58 ;  alarmed 
at  Louis,  62,  63  ;  asks  his  forgiveness, 
74 ;  invaded,  75 ;  offers  terms,  76 ; 
dikes  cut,  77,  78 ;  receives  assistance, 
79  ;  relieved  from  occupation,  81 ;  of- 
fered terms,  84;  jealous  of  Prince  of 
Orange,  85 ;  makes  peace,  86 ;  hostile 
to  Louis,  224  ;  obtains  favorable  terms, 
237 ;  policy  as  to  France,  240  ;  nego- 
tiates for  partition,  243 ;  proposes 
settlement,  270 ;  declares  war,  271 ; 
injudicious  conduct  of,  278,  279; 
makes  peace,  289;  joins  Triple  Alli- 
ance, 389  ;  joins  Quadruple  Alliance, 
415. 

Horn,  Count  of,  495,  497. 

Huguenots,  growth  of  party,  165 ;  treat- 
ment under  Richelieu,  166,  167  ;  pros- 
perity of,  168  ;  privileges  restricted, 
169,  172  ;  efforts  at  conversion  of,  173, 
174  ;  persecutions  of,  175-181 ;  sympa- 
thy excited  by,  178 ;  profess  Catholi- 
cism, 181-183 ;  ordinances  as  to  new 
converts,  187  ;  emigration  of,  188, 189 ; 
condemned  to  galleys,  193;  milder 
treatment  of,  195 ;  punishment  for 
holding  services,  196;  petty  persecu- 
tion of,  197 ;  numbers  of,  199 ;  condi- 
tion after  revocation,  201-203  ;  treat- 
ment of,  by  regent,  348,  349 ;  not  al- 
lowed in  colonies,  494. 

Indians,  462,  464. 

Indies,  company  of.  See  Mississippi  Com- 
pany. 

Innocent  XI.,  disapproves  revocation  of 
Edict  of  Nantes,  203 ;  hostility  to  Louis 
XIV.,  204,  222,  226 ;  offended  at  arti- 
cles of  1682,  205 ;  refuses  to  confirm 
bishops,  205;  to  receive  French  am- 
bassador, 207  ;  chooses  Elector  of  Co- 
logne, 222;  friendly  to  William  III., 
225,  226, 

Innocent  XII.  writes  letter  for  French, 
261. 

Innocent  XIII.  elected  Pope,  545. 

Inquisition  in  Spain,  548. 

Interest,  rate  of,  100,  284,  355,  484,  515. 

Intolerance,  religious,  171,  172,  195, 252. 

Invalides,  Hotel  des,  137. 

Italy,  condition  of,  411. 

Jacobites,  plots  of,  373,  378 ;  defeat  of, 
379. 


600 


INDEX. 


James  II.  of  England,  223-225,  237. 

Jansenism,  contests  over,  10,  297,  527 ; 
favor  under  regent,  534  ;  character  of, 
535,  536. 

Jesuits,  intolerance  of,  11, 346, 348 ;  sup- 
pression of  order,  12 ;  influence  over 
Louis  XIV.,  321,  324,  534 ;  advocates 
worship  of  Sacred  Heart,  558,  559. 

Judice,  Cardinal  del,  327. 

La  Bruy^re,  Jean,  143,  313. 

La  Feuillade,  Duke  of,  83,  159,  232. 

La  Force,  Duke  of,  197,  198. 

La  Force,  son  of  above,  518. 

La  Hogue,  battle  of,  227. 

Languedoc,  prosperity  of,  115;  after 
revocation  of  edict,  201. 

Lavardin,  Marquis  of,  207. 

Law,  change  in  procedure,  317  ;  decline 
in  litigation,  318. 

Law,  John,  early  life  of,  428  ;  sentenced 
to  be  hung,  429 ;  character,  429,  430  ; 
his  proposals  to  the  Scotch,  431-434 ; 
skin  as  a  gambler,  435,  437 ;  visits 
Paris,  435,  437 ;  views  of,  437,  441 ; 
advocates  bank,  441 ;  his  bank  organ- 
ized, 444 ;  made  state  bank,  446 ;  com- 
mercial plans  of,  448,  453 ;  offers  to 
fund  national  debt,  456,  457  ;  operates 
in  shares,  465 ;  deference  paid  him, 
472  ;  measures  of,  480  ;  power  of,  481, 
484 ;  becomes  Catholic,  482 ;  forbids  use 
of  gold  and  silver,  489,  491 ;  endeavors 
to  support  stock,  493 ;  stops  specula- 
tion, 497 ;  mistaken  measures  of,  501 ; 
hostiUty  agamst,  506,  509,  510;  re- 
moved as  comptroller,  510;  leaves 
France,  511 ;  character,  512 ;  dies 
poor,  513 ;  results  of  his  system,  517- 
519. 

Leopold  I.,  Emperor,  marries  daughter 
of  Philip  IV.,  53 ;  makes  partition 
treaty  with  Louis,  66  ;  joins  league  of 
Augsburg,  219 ;  views  as  to  Spanish 
Succession,  240,  241,  246;  refuses  to 
accept  partition,  247,  248  ;  conduct  in- 
judicious, 251 ;  begins  war  of  succes- 
sion, 258 ;  joins  alliance,  271 ;  selfish- 
ness of,  278. 

Le  Quesnel,  "Moral  Reflections"  of, 
534. 

Le  Tellier,  Chancellor,  character  of,  25 ; 
intolerance  of,  184. 

Le  Tellier,  Father,  297,  321,  348,  534. 

Lettres  de  cachet,  346. 

Lionne,  secretary  of  state,  his  character, 
25 ;  draws  renunciation,  54  ;  loss  from 
his  death,  76. 

Literature,  influence  of,  6,  16 ;  under 
Louis  XIV.,  141-146 ;  pensions  to,  144 ; 
influence  of  regency,  554-556. 

Lorraine,  condition  of,  68. 

Lorraine,  Duke  of,  247,  381. 

Louis  XIV.,  effects  of  reign,  2;  early 
power  of,  24,  209 ;  character,  26,  27, 
29,  130,  161-163;  education,  28;  as- 
sumes control  of  administration,  30,  31 ; 


treatment  of  Fouquet,  35,  36,  40 ; 
threatens  war  on  Pope,  45 ;  not  bound 
by  treaties,  47 ;  splendor  of,  50;  his 
device  of  sun,  50  ;  love  of  war,  51,  81  ; 
claims  on  Spanish  possessions,  52,  59, 
61 ;  joins  in  wife's  renunciation,  54 ; 
invades  Low  Countries,  61 ;  splendor  in 
war,  62  ;  makes  peace,  65 ;  makes  par- 
tition treaty,  66 ;  angry  at  Holland,  69, 
70, 74 ;  invades  Holland,  75 ;  flattery  of, 
82 ;  vanity  of,  82,  228 ;  afraid  to  fight 
battle,  83,  229  ;  summit  of  his  power, 
88,  89;  called  the  Great,  89;  confi- 
dence in  Colbert,  94,  127  ;  influence  in 
Europe,  129  ;  embassies  to,  135 ;  taste 
for  Versailles,  139  ;  influence  on  liter- 
ature, 142 ;  relations  with  women,  147, 
148;  attempts  at  reformation,  154; 
marries  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  155; 
reverence  for,  158 ;  statues  of,  159 ; 
egoism  of,  160  ;  courtesy  of,  161,  162 ; 
religious  policy,  164,  169 ;  checks  per- 
secution, 178  ;  pleased  at  conversions, 
183 ;  persecution  by,  197  ;  motives  for 
his  conduct,  199 ;  asserts  right  of  re- 
gale, 204 ;  asserts  prerogatives  of  his 
ambassador,  207 ;  mistakes  of  later 
years,  210,  211,  214 ;  treatment  of  Ge- 
noa, 214;  of  Savoy,  216;  hostility 
against,  219;  conduct  as  to  Cologne, 
220,  222;  begins  war,  222  ;  conduct  as 
to  William  III.,  223,  224;  captures 
Mons  and  Namur,  228 ;  abandons  array, 
229  ;  remark  about  Louvois,  232 ;  offers 
to  surrender  Strasbourg,  236 ;  makes 
peace,  237  ;  policy  as  to  Spanish  Suc- 
cession, 239,  241-245 ;  refuses  to  treat 
with  Austria,  248 ;  conduct  towards 
Spain,  251  ;  good  faith  of,  253-255, 
327  ;  informed  of  will  of  Charles  II., 
263 ;  his  views,  264,  265  ;  accepts  will, 
266 ;  refuses  concessions,  271 ;  recog- 
nizes Pretender,  271  ;  his  fortitude, 
273 ;  tries  to  economize,  275 ;  seeks 
peace,  276  ;  cannot  obtain  peace,  279 ; 
wants  Philip  to  abdicate,  282  ;  appeals 
to  people,  283  ;  grief  at  death  of  Bur- 
gundy, 296 ;  religious  ignorance  of, 
297,  322 ;  health  fails,  297  ;  death,  298 ; 
length  of  reign,  299  ;  theory  of  govern- 
ment, 300,  319,  320 ;  centralizing  ten- 
dencies under,  304, 310-312  ;  represses 
Parliament,  312,  522;  establishes  or- 
der, 314 ;  influence  on  religious  belief, 
320, 321 ;  indifference  at  his  death,  324 ; 
his  feelings  towards  Orleans,  325,  331 ; 
refuses  to  choose  Philip  V.  as  regent, 
327,  328 ;  his  will,  332,  333  ;  set  aside, 
336  ;  he  approves  of  Dubois,  365,  367  ; 
conduct  towards  Pretender,  371,  372 ; 
refuses  to  aid  him,  373  ;  disapproves  of 
Philip's  conduct,  399,  406 ;  supports 
renunciation,  406 ;  morality  under, 
574,  575. 
Louis  XV.,  affection  for,  3,  8;  excites 
contempt,  8, 9 ;  advice  to,  298  ;  attains 
majority,  549  ;  coronation,  549 ;  touch- 


INDEX. 


601 


es  for  king's  evil,  551 ;  early  character 
of,  593,  594. 

Louisiana,  territory  of,  449,  450;  state- 
ment from,  459,  463,  464;  attempts 
to  colonize,  459,  461,  495;  ignorance 
about,  464. 

Louville,  Marquis  of,  410. 

Louvois,  minister  of  war,  25 ;  talents  of, 
73 ;  insolent  to  Dutch,  77  ;  his  cruelty, 
78 ;  directs  dragonnades,  177, 179, 180 ; 
intolerance  of,  186 ;  foreign  policy, 
212 ;  death,  232. 

Louvre,  the,  137,  138. 

Low  Countries,  Spanish,  52  ;  invaded  by 
Louis,  61 ;  portions  surrendered  to 
France,  QQ^  87 ;  occupied  by  French 
soldiers,  270. 

Luxembourg,  Marshal  of,  cruelties  un- 
der, 78 ;  ability  of,  81 ;  victories  of, 
227,  230 ;  death,  232. 

Luxemburg,  province  of,  214,  237. 

Maine,  Duchess  of,  420,  423. 

Maine,  Duke  of,  favorite  of  Louis  XIV., 
333 ;  conduct  at  Parliament,  335,  337  ; 
declared  capable  of  inheriting  throne, 
343;  degraded  in  rank,  345;  coward- 
ice of,  420,  422. 

Maintenon,  Mme.  de,  early  life,  149 ; 
character,  150,  153;  religious  zeal, 
153 ;  marries  Louis  XIV.,  155 ;  influ- 
ence on  king,  156,  157  ;  founds  St. 
Cyr,  157;  converts  Huguenot  chil- 
dren, 176 ;  advice  on  treatment  of 
Huguenots,  198 ;  does  not  like  war, 
230 ;  hostile  to  Louvois,  231 ;  wants 
Philip  to  abdicate,  282,  284;  distress 
of,  283;  strict  views  of,  296;  retires 
to  St.  Cyr,  299;  complains  of  immo- 
rality, 575. 

Man  with  the  iron  mask,  41. 

Mardyck,  389,  394. 

Marie  Anne,  of  Austria,  Spanish  regent, 
59. 

Marie  Louise,  of  Savoy,  queen  of  Spain, 
281,  290. 

Marillac,  superintendent,  177,  178. 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  273,  274,  276; 
opposes  peace,  278,  288. 

Marseilles,  115,  309 ;  pestilence  at,  558. 

MassUlon,  185. 

Mazarin,  Cardinal,  character  of,  23; 
death  of,  29;  claims  renunciation  in- 
valid, .55 ;  remark  on  Colbert,  93 ; 
friendly  to  Huguenots,  168. 

Medicine,  condition  of,  557. 

Mehemet  Effendi,  ambassador  at  Paris, 
530 ;  views  of,  531,  532 ;  entry  of,  532. 

Milan  conceded  to  Austria,  245. 

Millionaire,  origin  of  word,  477. 

Mississippi  Company,  grant  to,  449 ; 
coat  of  arms,  451  ;  capital,  452 ;  re- 
ceives other  franchises,  452-454  ;  pros- 
pects of,  454 ;  capital  increased,  457 ; 
colonists  for,  461  ;  speculation  in 
shares,  465,  468,  475,  477;  price  of 
shares,  469-471,  476;    buildings   for. 


471 ;  dividends  of,  483,  484  ;  purchase 
of  shares,  493 ;  their  value  reduced, 
500 ;  faU  in  prices,  507,  508 ;  closing 
of,  514,  515;  subsequent  history  of, 
516. 

Missouris  visit  Paris,  462. 

Moli^re,  144,  145. 

Mons,  228. 

Montespan,  Mme.  de,  148, 149, 153-155. 

Montesquieu,  555. 

Municipal  corporations,  government  and 
decline  of,  304,  305;  abuses  in,  308, 
310 ;  lose  right  to  choose  officials,  310- 
312. 

Miinster,  Bishop  of,  72,  73. 

Namur,  city  of,  228,  232. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  165, 166, 168 ;  revoked, 

184,  186 ;  results  of  revocation,  198, 

203. 
Navy,  the,  123,  357. 
Neerwinden,  battle  of,  227,  230. 
New  Orleans,  foundation  of,  360. 
Newspapers,  352. 
Nimeguen,  treaty  of,  85,  87,  212. 
Nithard,  Father,  59. 
Noailles,  Cardinal,  Archbishop  of  Paris. 

536,  537,  551. 
Noailles,  Duke  of,  354,  364,  581. 

Opera,  receipts  of,  498. 

Orange,  Prince  of.     See  William  III. 

Orleans,  Duchess  of,  590. 

Orleans,  Philip,  Duke  of,  325 ;  character, 
328, 329  ;  marriage,  329  ;  vices  of,  330, 
575 ;  accused  of  murder,  330,  331 ; 
plans  to  set  aside  Louis  XIV. 's  will, 
333,  334;  conduct  at  ParUament,  336  j 
made  absolute  regent,  337,  338 ; 
changes  introduced  by  him,  338,  340  ; 
his  measures  against  the  bastards,  345  ; 
releases  prisoners,  346 ;  liberal  reli- 
gious views  of,  348,  351  ;  resemblance 
to  Henry  IV.,  349,  350 ;  political  views, 
351 ;  reduces  expenses,  357  ;  early  dis- 
sipation of,  365 ;  conduct  towards  Eng- 
land, 375;  intrigues  with  Jacobites, 
378,  379;  negotiates  with  George  I., 
380  ;  allies  himself  with  England,  389  ; 
wisdom  of  his  policy,  390-396 ;  remark 
on  the  nation,  411 ;  unwilling  to  mak<i 
war  on  Spain,  419 ;  friendly  to  Law, 
437, 510 ;  refuses  to  pardon  Horn,  496 ; 
attacks  upon,  509 ;  gives  Law  a  pen- 
sion, 513;  weakness  of,  516;  yields 
power  to  Dubois,  520 ;  quarrels  with 
Parliament,  522  ;  favorable  to  Jansen- 
ists,  534;  endeavors  to  repress  reli- 
gious quarrels,  536 ;  recommends  Du> 
bois  for  cardinal,  539;  marries  his 
daughter  to  Philip's  son,  548 ;  friendly 
to  literature,  554 ;  to  science,  556 ; 
fondness  for  Paris,  562;  holds  power 
after  majority,  567  ;  death  and  charac- 
ter, 568, 569 ;  influence  of,  570 ;  efforts 
to  repress  libels,  573 ;  conduct  of,  576 ; 
license  of,  577,  579  ;  mistresses  of,  580, 


602 


INDEX, 


581 ;  conduct  of  his  children,  588, 589 ; 
last  words  of,  595. 

Palais  Royal,  suppers  of,  577,  578. 

Palatinate,  devastation  of,  227. 

Parabere,  Mme.  de,  580. 

Paris,  city  of,  opposed  to  Jesuits,  11 ; 
improvement  in,  138 ;  increase  in  in- 
fluence, 312  ;  hostile  to  Orleans,  331 ; 
crimes  in,  495, 563  ;  extravagance,  498 ; 
discontent,  503 ;  curiosity  over  Peter 
the  Great,  528,  530;  over  Turkish 
ambassador,  531 ;  beauty  of,  532 ;  su- 
perstition in,  655 ;  growth  of,  559 ; 
influence  of,  560,  561 :  population, 
561. 

Paris,  brothers,  455. 

Parliaments,  their  contests  with  Louis 
XV.,  13  ;  their  abolition,  14 ;  repressed 
under  Louis  XIV.,  312 ;  not  useful, 
313,  527;  courted  by  Orleans,  335; 
set  aside  will  of  Louis  XIV.,  336  ;  .de- 
grade bastards,  345 ;  hostile  to  Law, 
510,  523  ;  power  of,  522  ;  refuse  regis- 
tration, 524  ;  members  arrested,  525 ; 
they  submit,  526 ;  register  Unigenitus, 
537. 

Partition  treaties,  66 ;  terms  of  first  par- 
tition, 245 ;  of  second,  246,  247. 

Peasantry,  condition  of,  121,  313. 

Pellisson,  145,  174. 

People,  the  poverty  of,  33,  34,  121,  235, 
313. 

Peter  the  Great,  visits  Paris,  528  ;  habits 
of,  528  ;  desires  alliance  with  France, 
529. 

Philip  IV.  of  Spain,  apologizes  to  Louis, 
43;  family  of,  53;  upholds  renuncia- 
tion of  sister,  56 ;  death  of,  58 ;  his 
wiU,  58. 

Philip  V.  of  Spain,  chosen  king,  262  ;  pro- 
claimed, 267  ;  conduct  as  to  peace,  279  ; 
character,  280,394,397,404;  recognized 
as  king,  285  ;  signs  renunciation,  288 ; 
hesitates  to  sign  treaty,  289  ;  remar- 
ries, 290  ;  claims  on  regency,  326, 327  ; 
hostile  to  Orleans,  393,  406  ;  governed 
by  his  wife,  398  ;  life  of,  400,  401 ;  su- 
perstitions of,  402  ;  validity  of  his  re- 
nunciation, 405 ;  bad  faith  of,  406 : 
plans  of,  409 ;  unfriendly  to  Prance, 
410  ;  intrigues  against  regent,  421 ;  de- 
lusions of,  424;  makes  peace,  426 
sends  daughter  to  Paris,  548. 

Phillipsburg,  326. 

Pignerol,  235. 

Pompadour,  Mme.  de,  character  of,  9. 

Porto  Carrero,  Cardinal,  258  ;  treatment 
of  Charles  II.,  268;  favorable  to 
France,  261,  262.  , 

Port  Royal  in  Fields,  destruction  of, 
297. 

Portugal,  47,  134. 

Precedence,  questions  of,  42,  342,  345. 

Pretender.  See  St.  George,  Chevalier 
of. 

Prie,  Mme.  dfe,  511. 

Princess  Palatine,  the,  328;  letters  to 


Dubois,  366,  367;  complains  of  im- 
morality, 575 ;  remarks  on  Orleans 
family,  585,  589  ;  character,  590. 

Protective  taritf s.     See  Tariff. 

"Pyrenees  no  longer  exist,"  origin  of 
remark,  267. 

Quadruple  Alliance,  the,  terms  of,  414. 
Quincampoix,  Rue,  speculation  on,  473, 
475  ;  trading  forbidden  on,  498. 

Racine,  Jean,  144-146. 

Ramillies,  battle  of,  273. 

Regale,  right  of,  204. 

Regency,    council    of,    organized,  332; 

changed  by  Parliament,  337 ;  dissolved 

on  question  of  precedence,  342. 
Retz,  Cardinal,  369,  370. 
Reunion,  courts  of,  211,  212,  214,  237. 
Revolution,  the  French,  results  of,  1, 21, 

318,  355. 
Rhine,  league  of,  23,  60. 
Rhine,  passage  of,  75,  76. 
Richelieu,    Cardinal,   his    treatment  of 

Huguenots,  167,  168 ;  policy  of,  301. 
Richelieu,  Duke    of,  treason   of,  421 ; 

character  and  career,  583,  584. 
Rion,  Chevalier,  585,  586. 
Roads,  condition  of,  531 ;  improvements 

in,  550. 
Rohan,  Cardinal,  546. 
Rome,  right  of  sanctuary  at,  206,  207. 
Rousseau,  J.  B.,  554. 
Russia,  embassy  from,  135,  527 ;  makes 

alliance  with  France,  527. 
Ryswick,  treaty  of,  237,  238.. 

Sacred  Heart,  worship  of,  557,  559. 

Saint  Cloud,  celebrations  at,  577. 

Saint  Cyr,  school  of,  157,  285. 

Saint  George,  Chevalier  of,  banished 
from  France,  371 ;  thanks  Orleans  for 
aid,  379 ;  leaves  Lorraine,  381  ;  leaves 
Avignon,  390  ;  aided  by  Law,  481 ;  re- 
ceives pension  from  Dubois,  541. 

Saint  Simon,  Duke  of,  contempt  for  Vol- 
taire, 6,  553 ;  his  incapacity,  341 ;  op- 
poses reenactment  of  Edict  of  Nantes, 
351 ;  his  attacks  on  Dubois,  360,  363 ; 
pension  to,  473. 

Sanctuary,  right  of,  at  Rome,  206. 

Sardinia,  invasion  of,  412. 

Savoy,  Victor  Amadeus,  Duke  of,  his 
treatment  by  Louis  XIV.,  216-218; 
joins  alliance  against  France,  ^27 ; 
makes  peace,  235 ;  offended  at  Quad- 
ruple Alliance,  417. 

Sceaux,  Chateau  of,  420,  421. 

Seguier,  Chancellor,  39. 

Serfdom  not  extinct,  49. 

Siam,  embassy  from,  136. 

Sicily,  invasion  of,  417. 

Sisteron,  Bishop  of,  543. 

Slaves,  purchased  for  galleys,  190, 191 ; 
trade  in,  286. 

Sorbonne,  College  of,  Jansenist,  536. 

Spain,  decline  in  power,  23,  53;  yields 


INDEX. 


603 


precedence  to  France,  43 ;  female  suc- 
cession in,  53  ;  neglects  to  pay  dowry, 
55 ;  surrenders  territory,  65,  87 ;  evils 
of  her  rule,  68,  242 ;  joins  Holland,  79 ; 
war  with,  213  ;  joins  league  of  Augs- 
burg, 219 ;  opposed  to  partition  trea- 
ties, 245,  249  ;  friendly  to  Louis  XIV., 
250,  258 ;  weakness  of,  281 ;  joins  in 
peace,  289 ;  results  of  alliance  with, 
393;  hostility  to  France,  410;  war 
with  Emperor,  411,  412  ;  situation  of, 
416 ;  attacks  Sicily,  417  ;  invaded  by 
French,  424;  alliance  with  France, 
549 ;  persecution  in^  548. 

Spanish  Succession,  the,  question  of,  54- 
57,  239,  243 ;  attempts  to  regulate,  66, 
240 ;  importance  of,  242 ;  choice  of 
Duke  of  Anjou,  263. 

Stair,  Lord,  375-377,  379,  411 ;  hostile  to 
Law,  480. 

Stanhope,  Lord,  285,  375,  416,  538 ;  ne- 
gotiates with  Dubois,  383, 384 ;  refuses 
bribe,  387. 

Steenkirk,  battle  of,  227. 

Strasbourg,  Bishop  of,  72. 

Strasbourg,  city  of,  annexed  to  France, 
212,  213,  236. 

Sweden,  64 ;  ally  of  France,  72  ;  joins 
league  against  France,  219. 

System,  the,  of  Law,  455,  457,  490-493  ; 
results  of,  502,  517,  519. 

Taille,  99,  126. 

Tallard,  ambassador  to  England,  256, 
257,  264. 

Tariffs,  of  France,  63,  84;  protective, 
101, 102 ;  of  1664  and  1667,  109 ;  effect 
of,  223  ;  reduced,  237. 

Taxation,  abuses  of,  95,  306,  307,  354- 
356 ;  sale  of  taxes,  99 ;  in  certain  prov- 
inces, 307 ;  form  of,  455 ;  improve- 
ments under  Law,  480. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  64. 

Tencin,  Abb6,  converts  Law,  432;  in- 
trigues for  Dubois,  545,  546. 

Tobacco,  consumption  of,  452. 

Torcy,  secretary  of  state,  264,  327,  377, 
404, 405. 

Torture,  the  use  of,  565. 


Toulouse,  Count  of,  343. 

Triple  Alliance,  the,  64-69  ;  under  regent, 

389  ;  results  of,  390-396. 
Turenne,  Marshal  of,  61  j  death  of,  80 ; 

conversion  of,  173. 

Unigenitus,  bull,  disputes  over,  11,  297, 
537  ;  nature  of,  534. 

United  Provinces.    See  Holland. 

United  States  of  America,  assisted  by 
France,  18 ;  effect  on  French  Revolu- 
tion, 19. 

Ursins,  Mme.  des,  po^er  of,  281 ;  con- 
duct, 282 ;  wants  a  principality,  289 ; 
her  overthrow,  291. 

Utrecht,  treaty  of,  285-289  ;  defense  of, 
287,  288. 

Vaccination  in  France,  556,  557. 
Valliere,  Mile,  de  la,  50,  51,  94,  148. 
Vatteville,  Baron  of,  42,  43. 
Vauban,  Marshal  of,  228,  236-238. 
Vaudois,  of  Savoy,  216,  218. 
Vaux,  palace  of,  23-26. 
Vendome,  Duke  of,  204,  205. 
Versailles,  life  at,  131,  132;  palace  of, 

138-140 ;    cost  of,  141 ;   influence  of, 

diminished,  561 ;  dissipation  at,  581, 

582. 
Victor  Amadeus.    See  Savoy,  Duke  of. 
Villeroy,  Marshal  of,  276,  593,  594. 
Visa,  the,  514. 
Voltaire,  referred  to  by  St.  Simon,  6, 

553 ;  early  career  of,  552 ;  criticisms 

upon,  553,  554. 

War,  conditions  of,  62,  78,  233. 

West,  Company  of  the.  See  Mississippi 
Company. 

William  III.  of  England,  his  hostility  to 
Louis  XIV.,  79,  84,  210,  223,  241  ; 
stadtholder  of  Holland,  79 ;  unsuccess- 
ful as  soldier,  84,  228 ;  offered  sover- 
eignty, 85 ;  endeavors  to  prolong  war, 
86;  invasion  of  England,  224,  225; 
recognized  as  king,  237 ;  negotiates 
for  partition,  243-245,  247  ;  alarmed 
at  Louis's  conduct,  268,  269  ;  forma 
alliance,  271. 


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